All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ®
| Team | Position | Uniform # |
|---|---|---|
| 1943 Rockford Peaches | Catcher | 6 |
Helen was a fiery little catcher with a whip-like arm. She was not very tall, but had lots of stamina and spunk. In 1944, Helen switched to Chicago's National Girls Baseball League, which utilized softball rules, so the basepaths were shorter than in the AAGPBL. In the NGBL, Helen played catcher for the Bluebirds in 1944 and with the Queens from 1946-1949.
After leaving baseball, Helen became an employee for Walgreens Drugstore and rose to be the Executive Secretary to the Senior Vice President of the company.
Contributed By: Keith Stiles, Jr., Merrie Fidler
Services for Helen Sandiford (nee Nelson) 73, of Wheeling (IL), were held at 7 p.m. 2/8/1993 at Oehler Funeral Home.
She was born June 13, 1919, in Scotland.
Interment was in St. George Cemetery, St. George, Ontario, Canada. She passed away Saturday, Feb. 6 at Holy Family Hospital.
She came to the United States from Toronto, Ontario to play for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League Rockford Peaches. She was employed as an executive secretary at Walgreens corporate office in Deerfield for 43 years.
Survivors include two nephews, a niece, three grandnephews, and three grandnieces.
She was preceded in death by her brother and two sisters.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to Holy Family Hospital, the American Lung Association, or to the charity of donor’s choice appreciated.
Author: Unknown
Contributed By: Merrie Fidler
Copyright: Adapted from Newspaper Archives: “Helen Sandiford”; Arlington Heights (IL) Daily Herald Suburban Chicago p. 358
| Year | Ga | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | 83 | 214 | 36 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 16 | .210 |