Batter Up! – Gladys “Terrie” Davis

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943 to keep an interest in baseball during the years many boys and men were away at war. The Rockford Peaches, the League’s team in my hometown of Rockford, Illinois, were the inspiration to create my quilt, Batter Up!

The quilt honors the Peaches, and features the League’s first batting champion, Gladys “Terrie” Davis, who was also selected to the League’s first All-Star team in 1943. In that inaugural year, the first All-Star game was played in Wrigley Field in Chicago, a night-time double-header using temporary portable lighting. A popular 1992 film, A League of Their Own, features a fictionalized story of the Rockford Peaches and the AAGPBL, and includes the memorable line, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

The inspiring stories of these strong women in baseball history will remain in my mind and heart for a long time. As I was completing my quilt, our beloved Chicago Cubs became the World Series Champions for the first time in over one hundred years. What an honor and a thrill to witness baseball history, and to honor HERstory in creating Batter Up!

Champion batter Gladys “Terrie” Davis played for the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in their inaugural year of 1943.

cotton fabrics, cotton threads, rayon threads, cotton braid, fusible web, cotton batting