Nancy Mudge

Nancy Elizabeth Mudge Cato

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 2", Weight 120 lb.
• School Taylor University
• Born October 3, 1929 in Syracuse, NY USA
• Died July 24, 2012 in Elk River, MN USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Nancy Cato (nee Mudge) was a second baseman in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1949 to 1954.

She appeared briefly with the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1949, going hitless in two games. The following year, she suited up for the Springfield Sallies and Chicago Colleens, hitting .308 with no home runs, 24 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 40 games. Neither team was officially a member of the AAGPBL, both being training (minor league) teams only. In 1951, with the Kalamazoo Lassies, she hit .167/.269/.191 with 17 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 85 games. She fielded .912.

She split 1952 between the Lassies and the Battle Creek Belles, batting a combined .150/.301/.163 with four RBI and eight stolen bases in 61 games. She fielded .924. With the Muskegon Belles in 1953, she hit .157/.299/.196 with one home run - the first of her career - and 39 stolen bases in 104 games, fielding .935. The league's final season, 1954, was spent with Kalamazoo, with whom she hit .232/.356/.329 with seven home runs, 74 runs, 22 RBI and 33 stolen bases in 98 games. She also walked 68 times to only 52 strikeouts, while fielding .941. She tied for 6th in the league with 13 doubles and was third in steals, behind only Joanne Weaver and Betty Foss. In the playoffs for the only time, she she was 8 for 27 with 10 runs, 5 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 homers and 5 errors in 8 games as the Lassies won the pennant.

All told, she played in 350 games and hit .183/.311/.233 with eight home runs, 186 runs, 55 RBI and 97 stolen bases in 1,094 at-bats. She fielded .935.

After baseball, she taught physical education at the University of Minnesota.

Related Sites

• AAGPBL page