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DALLAS — Sarah Jane “Salty” Sands Ferguson, an original member of the Rockford Peaches women’s professional baseball team who appeared in the movie, “A League of Their Own,” will be one of two speakers to offer talks at Misericordia University in celebration of National Library Week, April 12-18.
Presented by The Friends of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library, the 84-year-old Ferguson will share the inspirational story of her professional sports career and time in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) at noon on Wednesday, April 15 in the Catherine Evans McGowan Room of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library. She will hand out her baseball cards and her uniform will be on display. Ballpark style refreshments will be served.
The weeklong series of events also will include a talk by Marybeth Cavanaugh Zeman, author of “Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book at a Time,” at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14 also in the McGowan Room of the Bevevino Library.
Both events are free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged and can be made by contacting Sue Lazur at slazur@misericordia.edu or 570-674-6225.
Ferguson, born Sarah Jane Sands in Orangeville on July 27, 1935, was a graduate of Bloomsburg High School. An athletic stand out, she was invited to practice with the boys’ baseball team while in high school.
In 1952, she tried out and became a member of the AAGPBL and played as a right fielder and catcher during the 1953 and 1954 seasons for the Rockford Peaches. Philip K. Wrigley, who was in charge of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball club, founded the AAGPBL in 1943. The league lasted twelve successful seasons before folding in 1954.
Ferguson was among the 61 former AAGPBL players who were in Cooperstown, N.Y., for 10 days of filming for the 1992 Penny Marshall film, “A League of Their Own.” She is pictured catching a ball and making a throw to the infield.