Philomena Gianfrancisco

Philomena Theresa Gianfrancisco (later Zale; April 20, 1923 – January 18, 1992) was an outfielder who played from 1945 through 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m), 134 lb., she batted left-handed and threw right-handed.[1]

Philomena Gianfrancisco
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Outfield
Born: (1923-04-20)April 20, 1923
Chicago, Illinois
Died: January 18, 1992(1992-01-18) (aged 68)
Chicago, Illinois
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (1988)

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Gianfrancisco had the longest name in league history. Nicknamed ״Phil״ or ״Frisco״ by her teammates, she joined the league in 1945 with the Grand Rapids Chicks, playing for them three years before joining the Racine Belles (1948).[2]

Her most productive season came in 1946, when she posted a career-best .226 batting average in 98 games, ranking eighth in runs batted in (53) and ninth in doubles (9), while tying for sixth in home runs (2).[3]

In 1947, Gianfrancisco suffered a severe knee injury, which sidelined her for most of the season. She then underwent surgery to correct a major problem. In 1948 she came back and helped Racine to reach the postseason, appearing in a career-high 114 games while batting .204 with four homers and 45 RBI. Two years later, in 1949, she left the league to become boxer Tony Zale's manager and booking agent. The two married in 1970. She worked as a physical education teacher for more than 25 years and specialized in teaching the hearing impaired at St. Francis De Sales Catholic High School in Chicago and for the Chicago Park District.[4]

Gianfrancisco is part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She died four years later in her hometown of Chicago at the age of 68.[4]

Career statistics

Batting

GPABRH2B3BHRRBISBTBBBSOBAOBPSLG
265877871802356947323110688.205.318.263

Fielding

GPPOAETCDPFA
255201291124178.954

[1]

References
  1. Philomena Zale profile, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League; retrieved 2019-04-10.
  2. W. C. Madden. The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary, McFarland & Company, 2005; ISBN 0-7864-3747-2
  3. W. C. Madden. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book, McFarland & Company, 2000; ISBN 978-0-7864-3747-4
  4. Obituary, The Chicago Tribune, January 22, 1922; accessed July 3, 2020.
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