Betsy Jochum, Last Original Player in Women's Baseball League That Inspired A League of Their Own, Dies at 104

Published: June 12, 2025

Betsy Jochum, the last original player of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that inspired the 1992 film A League of Their Own, has passed away at the age of 104.

"We lost one of our super stars, the last original 1943 player," the league said in a statement.

Jochum played in the AAGPBL beginning in 1943, when she was signed by the South Bend Blue Sox, and remained on the team for five years. She was a multi-talented player at bat and on the mound, remembered as one of the "fastest runners in the early years of the league and rarely struck out" in her career. She was also named an All-Star of the league and won a batting title.

In addition to her baseball legacy, Jochum earned her bachelor's and master's degree in physical education at Illinois University and went on to became a Physical Education and Social Studies Teacher at Muessel School for 27 years before retiring in 1983.

Jochum's South Bend Blue Sox uniform is also on permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as part of the Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers exhibit.

In Jochum's honor, a screening of A League of Their Own will take place at Howard Park as part of the city's "Movies in the Park" event.

A funeral service was held on Saturday, June 7 in South Bend, Indiana. Jochum will be buried at a "later date" at Arlington Memorial Gardens in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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