St. Charles honors AAGPBL star Donahue

ST. CHARLES – Sitting at a table arranged with women’s baseball paraphernalia, Terry Donahue recalls her reservations about another Material Girl.

Years before Madonna mellowed, she provoked, leaving alumnae of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League leery about her portrayal of them.

Producers of “A League of Their Own” consulted dozens of former players before the movie’s 1992 release, and nearly casted Donahue as an older version of Madonna’s character. Almost 20 years later, the St. Charles resident still smiles at the flattery, knowing the film recharged her identity either way.

"I don't stand on the corner and shout it," she said, "but I think the neighbors know now."
Many in St. Charles – her home since 1994 – learned of the women's baseball pioneer among them 10 days ago, when Donahue served as grand marshal of the city's St. Patrick's Day parade.

A friend recommended her to the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce upon learning that former Major Leaguers Randy Hundley (Cubs) and Billy Pierce (White Sox) already were set to lead the parade.
The move delighted Donahue, 84, while reaffirming her attitude about gender equity in the national pastime.

“The only things [women] can’t do, we can’t hit as far and we can’t throw as hard, but we certainly can make all the plays that you see in the Cubs’ ballpark. Or the Sox,” Donahue said. “Very good.”

Donahue credits her younger brother, Tom, for keeping her on pace with the best athletes in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan. She grew up on a farm (shades of Geena Davis’ Dottie Hinson in the movie) with sports-minded parents in the tiny village of Melaval, located about 50 miles north of the Montana border.

After finishing their homework, Terry and Tom often found an open pasture to play catch and throw grounders in. Tom also pitched to his sister and didn’t go easy, telling her he was going to be throwing as hard as he could.

Donahue batted only .127 for the Peoria Redwings in four AAGPBL seasons from 1946-49, but still developed an urgency to deliver in the clutch. Each of her 31 hits spanning her final two seasons drove runners home for a total of 32 RBIs.

A utility player who predominantly caught, she gained induction into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, earning the same honor at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., inducted the AAGPBL as a league in 1988. Its “Women In Baseball” display includes Donahue’s name, signature on a Redwings team ball and her recording of the story “Players In Pigtails”, a popular feature among children.

“Our league was a great group of women,” Donahue said. “And they’ve all become doctors, lawyers, they’ve really done well. And I’ve always been very proud to be associated with them.”

Donahue says “A League of Their Own” advanced the profile of women’s baseball incredibly.

She worked in accounting for 38 years with an interior design firm in Chicago until retiring in 1990 and says she never once volunteered information about her baseball past.

Passing through Cooperstown with her cousin and roommate, Pat, 18 months ago, she stopped to pose for a picture at the “Pigtails” story station. A crowd of museumgoers realized she was the same woman from the recording and a Hall inductee.

Immediately, she was greeted with questions about life in the AAGPBL, a World War II-era effort backed by chewing gum giant Phillip Wrigley that operated from 1943-54.

“Ever since that movie came out, if somebody knows that you’ve been a player, they get so excited,” Donahue said. “It’s just amazing what that movie did for us.”

It might have done more had Donahue been a member of the proper acting labor unions. “A League of Their Own” director Penny Marshall wanted to use Donahue as an older incarnation of Madonna’s brash center fielder Mae Mordabito, but ultimately couldn’t because she was ineligible.

There’s a picture of Donahue with Madonna in a scrapbook arranged on the table. Just before production, several former players voiced concern about the provocative pop idol’s role, but executives assured them she was “under our thumb.”

“We weren’t convinced until we saw the movie, but she did very well,” Donahue said. “We were pleased.”