Maxine Drinkwater

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Maxine Drinkwater
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
First base / Second base
Born: (1936-05-19) May 19, 1936 (age 85)
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1988)

Maxine "Max" Drinkwater (R/R) (née Simmons; born May 19, 1936) is a former first basewoman and second basewoman for the South Bend Blue Sox of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.[1] [2]

Spending her childhood in Camden, Maine, Simmons spent summers playing baseball with her brothers and other kids from the neighborhood, exhibiting a distinct aptitude for the game. In a 2005 interview, Simmons recalled: "I didn't have to learn how to play. I just knew. We had a good group of neighborhood kids and I lived right near the field."[3]

Followers of the AAGPBL best remember Max as the South Bend Blue Sox's first pick at the league's 1954 tryouts. In her sole season playing in the league, 18-year-old Simmons ranked as one of the league's top defensive second basewomen. Playing in 45 of the team's 111 games, Simmons boasted a .947 fielding percentage. However, she struggled offensively, batting only .147 with an OBP of .243.[2] Her performance earned her a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and, in 2005, Maine's Baseball Hall of Fame. On being the first woman to be inducted, then 69-year-old Maxine reportedly said, "I think it's pretty good. It's been a long time coming."[3]

Unfortunately, the league folded after the 1954 season, ending Simmons' professional baseball career. She currently resides in Camden, Maine.

Career statistics[]

Batting

GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB TB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
45 95 8 14 0 0 0 4 1 14 12 22 .147 .243 .147 .390

Fielding

GP PO A E TC DP FA
39 233 27 16 276 14 .942

[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Jordan, Glenn (2017-07-06). "At 81, Camden woman who played pro baseball will be back on the field". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  2. ^ a b Maxine Simmons – Biography. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  3. ^ a b "Maine baseball hall calls on Simmons; Camden woman who played professionally first woman to be inducted". Associated Press. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  4. ^ All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company, 2008. Format: Paperback, 302pp. Language: English. ISBN 0-7864-3747-2


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