Aiming for the FENCES
Sask.-grown baseball play brings girls’ game to life
For a small-town Saskatchewan girl, Arleene (Johnson) Noga never imagined that playing baseball would land her a full-time job.
“When we were playing, my thought was ‘just play ball.’ That was my focus when I was there. I didn’t think of anything beyond doing what I had to do,” Noga said.
Noga played four years in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), which decades later inspired the film A League of Their Own. Noga’s experiences, along with those of two other Regina women, is the focus of the Fringe play Diamond Girls.
The AAGPBL was formed in 1943 in the United States. Many of the men who played Major League Baseball were gone to fight in the Second World War. Philip Knight Wrigley, the gum mogul, founded the women’s league to preserve professional baseball. The league ran until 1954. At its height in 1948, there were 10 teams in two divisions with almost a million people attending the 126-game season.
Women were recruited from all over the continent to play in the league, including Saskatchewan. Sixty-four Canadians played in the league, including 25 from Saskatchewan.
The play Diamond Girls focuses on Noga, along with the late Mary “Bonnie” Baker and the late Daisy Junor.
“It’s just kind of a survey history in the league, but we get to see different aspects of it,” said playwright Maureen Ulrich.
The one-woman play runs 60 minutes and features Malia Becker playing 21 different roles. Noga had the chance to see the play on opening night at the Regina Fringe and was impressed.
“I don’t know how others would perceive it, but ... I think (Becker) did it well,” Noga said.
On Tuesday, Becker did a special performance of scenes from the play involving Noga at Qu’Appelle House where Noga lives. The room was packed as Becker played various characters, telling Noga’s friends about her life playing professional baseball.
Noga played third base and set numerous records, including a league fielding record for third base at .928 in 1946.
The play also tells the stories of Baker and Junor. Baker was regarded as the face of the league. She had her picture in Life magazine. Under the table, she earned $2,500 in signing bonuses.
She played in the league for nine years.
“(Baker) was both a player but she also then moved into a management role, and for a year she was the first and only female manager for the league,” said Sheila Kelly, executive director of Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
Junor also played in the league for four years but she is better remembered in Saskatchewan for the other sports she played, including golf and bowling.
Diamond Girls is touring Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario.
It has two shows in Toronto and a special presentation at the International Sports Heritage Association’s conference in Calgary in September.