Velma Abbott

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Flora Velma Abbott (May 29, 1924 – January 1, 1987) was a Canadian baseball player who competed in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She was a small, speedy infielder who could play at second base and third base, and she batted and threw right-handed.

Abbott came from Regina, Saskatchewan and was one of 68 Canadian players in the league’s 12-year history. In 1946 she played for three teams—Kenosha Comets, Peoria Redwings, and Rockford Peaches—and posted a .178 batting average in 52 games with 5 RBIs and 15 runs. In 1947 she was with the Fort Wayne Daisies, primarily at third base, hitting .141 with 27 runs and 15 RBIs, plus 18 stolen bases and her lone career home run. Before joining the AAGPBL, she played in California for the Alameda Girls, a successful amateur softball team.

The AAGPBL lasted until 1954. In 1988 a permanent display honoring the league opened at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The league gained renewed interest after the 1992 film A League of Their Own. Abbott and other Canadian players are part of the Cooperstown display, and she was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.