Ruby Knezovich [Martz] (March 18, 1918 – August 1, 1995) was a Canadian catcher who played from 1943 to 1944 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5' 2", 130 lb., she batted and threw right handed.[1]

Ruby Knezovich
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Catcher
Born: (1918-03-18)March 18, 1918
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died: August 1, 1995(1995-08-01) (aged 77)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (since 1988)
  • Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Honorary Induction (1998)

Born in Hamilton, Ontario,[2][3] Ruby Knezovich was one of the 68 players born in Canada to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in its twelve-year history. Her younger sister, Daisy Junor, also played in the league.[1][2]

Knezovich shared the catching duties along with Irene Hickson and Anna May Hutchison during her two seasons with the Racine Belles.[4]

In a 17-game career, Ruby posted a batting average of .146 (6-for-41), with four runs scored, two RBI and one stolen base. As a fielder, she hauled in 29 putouts with 16 assists and turned one double play, while committing two errors in 47 total chances for a combined .957 fielding average.[4]

In 1988 was inaugurated a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York, that honors those who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Ruby Knezovich, along with the rest of the girls and the league staff, is included at the display/exhibit.[5] Then in 1998, three years after her death, Ruby and all Canadian AAGPBL players gained honorary induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.[6]

Sources

edit
  1. ^ a b "Ruby Martz – Profile". All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  2. ^ a b Heaphy, Leslie A.; May, Mel Anthony 2006). McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2100-8
  3. ^ Madden, W. C. (2005) The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2263-0
  4. ^ a b Madden, W. C. (2000) All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0597-8
  5. ^ Before A League of Their Own. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved on September 5, 2016.
  6. ^ The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Official Website