Alta Weiss Hisrich (February 9, 1890 – February 12, 1964), born Alta Weiss, was an American minor league baseball pitcher from Ohio who drew large crowds to exhibition games at minor league and major league venues in the US state of Ohio and Kentucky. She was a semiprofessional female baseball player who went on to become a physician.
| Alta Weiss | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: February 9, 1890 Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio, U.S. | |
| Died: February 12, 1964 (aged 74) Ragersville, Ohio, U.S. | |
Threw: right | |
| debut | |
| 1907, for the Vermilion Independents | |
| Last appearance | |
| 1922[1], for the Weiss All Stars | |
| Teams | |
Early life
editBorn in 1890 in Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio, she was the daughter of Dr. George and Lucinda Zehnder Weiss.[1][2] When she was five years old the family moved to Ragersville.[1][3]
Later career
editShe was the only female to graduate Starling Medical College with the class of 1914.[1][2][4]
Weiss married John E. Hisrich in 1926; they separated in 1944.[5] She died in 1964 in Ragersville, Ohio, just three days after her 74th birthday.[6]
Honors
editA picture-story book for children Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings, by Deborah Hopkinson, with illustrations by Terry Widener, was published in 2003 (ISBN 0-689-83300-8).[7][8] On October 20, 2004, she was inducted into the Ragersville Hall of Fame.[1] Her uniform was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York for exhibition in a Women's baseball exhibit that opened in 2005.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f Eberle, Maxine Renner (October 20, 2004). "Ragersville Hall of Fame to induct Alta Weiss as first female semi-pro baseball player". Retrieved September 26, 2009.
- ^ a b "You Cant Play Ball In A Skirt: The Alta Weiss Story". Ragersville Historical Society. February 3, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
- ^ Ragersville, in Tuscarawas County, is south-southeast of Sugarcreek, Ohio and east-northeast of Baltic.
- ^ Ward, Geoffrey C.; Ken Burns (13 August 1996). Baseball An Illustrated History. A.A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-76541-7.
- ^ "Files for Divorce." Coshocton (OH) Tribune, August 7, 1946, p. 2.
- ^ "Alta W. Hisrich Dies at Dover." Coshocton (OH) Tribune, February 13, 1964, p. 13.
- ^ Hopkinson, Deborah. "Deborah Hopkinson – Girl Wonder". Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
- ^ The book was awarded a Jan Addams honor award for illustration in 2004. See "Jane Addams Peace Association – Previous Winners of the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards Listed by Year". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved September 27, 2009.