About 75 adults and children gathered at Kennedy fields on Saturday, May 11 to pay tribute to one of Cuyahoga Falls’ own Jane Jacobs Badini, alumna of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Jacobs pitched three years for the Racine Belles and one year for the Peoria Redwings, although her career was not really known outside of her circle of family and friends until the 1992 film A League of Their Own brought attention to the wartime women’s leagues.
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed in 1943 as a way to continue professional major-league baseball even though many of the players were serving in the military, and it worked. Players were scouted all over the country and while she was pitching for a Cuyahoga Falls softball team sponsored by the Fair Bond Oil Co. in 1943, her coach recommended she try out for the league. Boarding a train for Chicago, there was no turning back. She became the pitcher for the Racine Belles in 1944 and in 1946 was the pitcher for the Peoria Redwings, returning to the Belles in 1947. Upon returning to Cuyahoga Falls, Jacobs operated a dry-cleaning business and later ceramics shop on Tallmadge Road.
She is part of the “Woman in Baseball” display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York that was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Though she did not attend the ceremony, she traveled to Cooperstown in 2009 to see her name in the hall.
Approximately a year ago relatives of Jane approached Cuyahoga Falls Parks and Recreation Director Sara Kline with the idea of paying tribute to Jacobs who passed away in 2015. Not only was the Parks Department onboard with the idea, so was Cuyahoga Falls Amateur Baseball Association President Andy Cole. According to Cole, the Redwings team was added to the league for this year’s season and all of the leagues’ teams will bear a patch on their sleeve with Jacobs’ name and the three jersey numbers she played under during her time with the league— #9, #37, and #14.
On hand Saturday for the presentation were a host of Jacob’s relatives, some local and some driving in as far as South Carolina, along with coaches and athletes who participate in the league and their parents. The presentation started with words of praise from City Council President Russ Balthis, Parks Director Sara Kline, CFABA President Andy Cole and Jacobs’ niece Jeanie McCrossin who shared stories and baseball cards bearing her aunt’s photo and statistics.
At the end of the day, it looks like Cuyahoga Falls also has their own Jacobs Field.
