Lois Youngen

“I grew up in the 1940s when a woman’s place was at home, but I always knew it was at home, first, second and third!” 

In the summer of 1950, the 16-year-old teenager took a car trip with her parents to see family in Indiana and she ended up with a tryout to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Lois Youngen spent four seasons catching in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She joined the Fort Wayne Daisies as a 17-year-old in 1951, and two years later with the South Bend Blue Sox she caught a perfect game thrown by Jean Faut. The 89-year-old former catcher and outfielder played for two Hall of Famers, who served as her managers during her career: Max Carey and Jimmie Foxx. Paying her way through college with the money she saved from playing, Lois earned her doctorate in Physical Education from Ohio State University and enjoyed a 36-year career with the University of Oregon where she served as the Director of Physical Activity and Recreation.

“I went to the senior prom, graduated from high school and became a Fort Wayne Daisy all in one week.”

The catcher from Ohio spent four seasons in the AAGPBL and vividly remembers the first time she stepped into a batter’s box, and fondly remembers the baseball legends who managed her.

After her playing days, “Dr. Youngen” climbed to the top of the ladder as a college professor and administrator — and there’s a ball field in Eugene that carries her name as a lasting tribute to her contributions to baseball and her community. 

No one had more fun playing in the AAGPBL than Lois and her recollections are vivid.