South Bend Blue Sox

Championships: 2 (1951, 1952)

Playoffs: 7 (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1954)

Franchise Players: Jean Faut, Bonnie Baker

The South Bend Blue Sox were one of two teams to play in every AAGPBL season (the other was the Rockford Peaches. Often a second-division team, they posted the best record in 1949 (tied with Rockford). That year they were swept in the playoffs, 4 to 0, by Rockford, after getting a first-round bye (along with the Peaches). After falling in their first four playoff series, the team went on to win their next four in claiming back-to-back titles in 1951 and 1952 behind ace pitcher Jean Faut, perhaps the best in league history.

Managers

• 1943-1944 Bert Niehoff
• 1945 Marty McManus
• 1946-1947 Chet Grant
• 1948 Marty McManus
• 1949-1950 Dave Bancroft
• 1951-1954 Karl Winsch

Further Reading

• Gary Belleville: "September 8, 1952: South Bend wins protest, new Game 2 to get back into AAGPBL championship series," SABR Baseball Games Project.
• Jim Sargent and Robert M. Gorman: The South Bend Blue Sox: A History of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Team and Its Players, 1943–1954, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7864-4647-6