Betty Foss

Betty Foss née Weaver
(Fossey)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.

• Born May 10, 1929 in Metropolis, IL USA
• Died February 8, 1998 in Metropolis, IL USA

Biography

Betty Foss hit .342 in five seasons for the Fort Wayne Daisies; her career average is second in AAGPBL history to her sister Joanne.

As a rookine in 1950 the Fort Wayne third basewoman made an imemdiate impact. She led the league in batting (.346), tied for third in homers (5), was fourth in total bases (162) and RBI (61), tied for 6th with 64 steals, second with 125 hits (5 behind leader Sophie Kurys), tied for 8th with 64 runs, 1st with 24 doubles and was tops in slugging (.471, 35 points ahead of Kurys). She also was presumably the OBP leader - her (BB+H)/(BB+AB) is .416, 11 points better than the #2 player. Amazingly, she missed the All-Star team in favor of Fern Shollenberger.

The next year Foss repeated as batting champ (.368), but again was denied an All-Star spot. Now at first base, Foss lost the spot to Dottie Kamenshek, the batting average runner-up in '50 and '51. Foss also led in homers (4, a 3-way tie for the top spot), total bases (176), doubles (34, 15 more than the next player) and she was 5th in RBI (58), 7th in steals (60) and tied for uth in runs (77). Her 34 doubles in a season are the league record.

From '52 to '54, her sister Jo Weaver won the batting title. The Foss-Weaver family duo led the Daisies to three straight first-place finishes in this period. In '52, Foss was named Player of the Year. She hit .331 (second to Jo's .344), was tied for 6th in homers (4), led again in total bases (209), drove in the most (74), stole the second-most (56), connected for the most hits (137), scored the most runs (81), tripled the most (17, more than the next two combined) and led in doubles (26) for the third straight season. No other AAGPBL player ever hit as many triples in a season.

In 1953 Foss fell to her lowest spot yet in the batting race - third (.321, 25 points behind Jo). She tied for 6th in homers (5), led in total bases (195) for the third year in a row, was 5th in RBI (65), led in steals (80), led in hits (144) again, scored 99 runs (13 more than the next player) for her second straight lead there and was third with 8 triples. For the first time in her career, Betty failed to top the AAGPBL in doubles, as her 20 were three behind league leader Eleanor Callow. She made her second straight All-Star team at first base. Her 144 hits in a year represent the league record. For the third straight season, she had set some single-season league mark.

In '54, Foss fell all the way to 4th in the batting race (.352). She was 5th in total bases (172), second in steals (34), 4th in hits (117), second to Jo in runs (80) and tied for sixth with 13 doubles.

Foss is the all-time AAGPBL leader in doubles (117) despite playing just five of the league's twelve seasons.

She died of Lou Gehrig's Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS) at age 68. Her sister Joanne also died of ALS two years later. Another sister Jean player in the league as well.

Source: "The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book" by W.C. Madden