TinCaps, city of Fort Wayne honor AAGPBL club

On a warm June night in northeast Indiana, Fort Wayne's Parkview Field was full of daisies. The Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, to be exact.

The High-A TinCaps honored the city's AAGPBL team on Saturday, wearing replica jerseys and unveiling a monument dedicated to the club that played from 1945-54.

“These were members of our community … females that were ballplayers,” TinCaps vice president of marketing Michael Limmer said on The Show Before The Show Podcast. “The fact that we’re able to shine a spotlight on them, they hold a place in our community’s heart … just to be able to show that we’re proud of them and excited that Fort Wayne has the Daisies.

“It’s just a small token of appreciation, but we hope that it makes an impact and we’re able to educate another generation that the Daisies existed and why and the role that they played.”

The club worked with the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation department to raise funds to bolster the monument, which now features plaques and a list of names dedicated to 144 players, managers, chaperones, and bat kids that were documented in the history books. The majority of the funds were raised from a jersey auction the team did last year, Limmer said.

The monument was unveiled at the city’s Memorial Park, the site of the former field where the Daisies used to play.

Today, we were proud to stand alongside @CityofFortWayne, @fortwayneparks and @aagpbl in celebrating the Fort Wayne Daisies with a new monument at Memorial Park! 🌼 pic.twitter.com/Twr4lDxFHz

— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) June 4, 2023

“Just really excited about thinking about some Saturday afternoon, families going over to Memorial Park and being able to see their mom’s, their grandma’s, their aunt’s name among all these other names of Daisies players and just knowing that we were able to not only highlight the Daisies, but then all these names of other women that played ball,” Limmer said. “It’s really awesome.”

Daisies alumni Dolly Vanderlip Ozburn, a right-handed pitcher, and Katie Horstman, who played third base, outfield and pitcher, attended the event and met with fans before the game. Former bat girl Barbara Snyder Hill kicked off the game with a hearty, “Play ball!”

“They’re everything that you would imagine a grandma that played professional baseball would be like,” Limmer laughed.

This isn't the first time the TinCaps have honored the Daisies, and it certainly won't be the last. Last season, the club honored three former players before the game, and Limmer said their autograph lines were even longer than those of the TinCaps players.

Not only is it important for Fort Wayne to honor the AAGPBL participants and their families, but equally paramount is to continue the education of who the Daisies were, what they meant to the community and their special place in history.

The TinCaps were even able to secure the rights to the Fort Wayne Daisies trademark, furthering the club's connection to the historic team.

"We feel like we're an ambassador -- as well as a caretaker -- for the Fort Wayne Daisies name and legacy, and it's something we really want to lean into," Limmer said. "The education, the exposure to people in our community of what the Daisies are, were and should continue to be, that's always going to be my biggest point of pride when we do a night like this."