Marge Callaghan

Marge slides into home

Margaret Callaghan Maxwell

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 3", Weight 112 lb.
• High School King Edward High School

• Born December 23, 1921 in Vancouver, BC CAN
• Died January 11, 2019 in Vancouver, BC CAN

Biographical Information

Marge in Vancouver, May 1944

While hitting below the Mendoza Line during her career (and never having more than 7 extra-base hits), infielder Marge Callaghan played for eight years in the AAGPBL due to her baserunning prowess. Her sister Helen Callaghan and nephew Casey Candaele both had more significant baseball careers, but this should not overshadow Marge's talents.

Callaghan broke in with the expansion 1944 Minneapolis Millerettes, hitting .182/~.276/.188 while playing third base. The team became the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1945 and she batted .196/~.308/.218. She was only 3 for 31 in the playoffs and Fort Wayne lost in the finals. She had 52 errors in 1946 but also tied for sixth in the league with 70 runs, while hitting .188/~.355/.221 with 80 steals and 88 walks, second in the loop and five behind leader Sophie Kurys.

Marge topped .200 for one of two times in 1947, hitting .201/~.331/.222 with 57 steals and the last of her three career homers while moving to second base. She remained there in 1948 and had a .187/~.277/.207 batting line and stole 42 bases. Her .945 fielding percentage was the best of her career. She went 7 for 57 in the playoffs with 5 runs and homered in the first round, but was only 2 for 18 with one produced in the five-game finals as Fort Wayne again lost in the last round.

Moving to the South Bend Blue Sox in 1949, she became a backup and hit .169/~.285/.188 and went 0 for 3 in her last playoff appearance. In 1950, she batted .157/~.344/.171 as a scrub for the Peoria Red Wings. She split 1951 between Peoria and the Battle Creek Belles, hitting .236/~.339/.260 and stole 26 bases while again seeing regular time at third base (107 games).

Overall, she hit .196/~.319/.218 during the regular season, fielding .923, and stole 283 bases. She scored 283 runs in 672 games.

Source: The AAGPBL Record Book by W.C. Madden

Further Reading

• Christina De Nicola: "The real women who inspired ‘A League of Their Own’", mlb.com, March 14, 2022. [1]
• Tom Hawthorn: "Baseball pro's story inspired the film A League of Their Own", The Globe and Mail, February 4, 2019, p. B18.

Related Sites

• Marge and Helen Callaghan at the SABR Bio Project