Softball champion recalls playing days

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- Peggy Elliott's birth certificate may be 80 years old but her heart and spirit can take her quickly back to 1939 when she was playing softball in Enid for Vater's Book Store.

Wednesday, February 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- Peggy Elliott's birth certificate may be 80 years old but her heart and spirit can take her quickly back to 1939 when she was playing softball in Enid for Vater's Book Store. "I could play right now," she said as she held a bat back.

Don't bet against her. Elliott, who now lives in Arnett, recently has returned from San Diego where she revived memories of her career during a visit to the San Diego Hall of Champions. Elliott played for Consolidated Aircraft during World War II when she was working in the defense industry. She viewed photos of herself and teammates at the Hall of Champions. She had won a trip to California in Southwest Airlines' "Home for the Holidays" program. She came back with her typical spunkiness. "In a way, I feel dishonored because I feel I should be in the Hall of Champions (Softball Hall of Fame) in Oklahoma City," Elliott said. "I'm playing up to the governor's wife so I may make it. "I'll get a good story for you if I do."

Elliott, before the flight, was honored at a reception at the governor's mansion in Oklahoma City. She likes to show off the picture of herself with first lady Cathy Keating. Consolidated Aircraft won the West Coast championship in 1942 beating such teams as the WAVES, the WACS and the women members of the Los Angeles Police Department. "I saw pictures of all my girlfriends there (at the Hall of Champions)," she said. "I had such a wonderful time."

Her career began in Enid in 1939 when she played for (the) Vater Book Store team while still attending Arnett High School. In the summers, she would live with her coach Faye Fisher, and his mother.

When she got homesick, Elliott would hitch a ride with an Enid Morning News delivery truck helping deliver the news as far away as Higgins, Texas. She and her teammates would play at Phillips Park in Enid. Her play here impressed scouts enough to land her on teams in Oklahoma City (Chevrolet Queens and Buck's Sporting Goods).

Elliott would play on teams in Woodward, Arnett and Dumas, Texas, before going out to the West Coast. While playing for B.F. Goodrich in Los Angeles, she was a teammate for a day of actor Mickey Rooney. Rooney dressed up like a girl and played third base with Elliott on the mound. Later the two crossed paths while Rooney was making a movie there (called) "Cowboys Never Die." "I walked up to him and said, `I guess you don't remember me, do you?' He said, `Who in the heck are you.' "I said `that's a rude way to talk to one of your teammates.' He said, `What do you mean teammate?' I said don't you remember when you dressed like a girl and played third base? He said, `I certainly do and your name is Peg.' "I said that's right. He said, `My God what are you doing in Oklahoma?' I said what are you doing in Oklahoma? Oklahoma is the greatest state in the union."'

Elliott's feats predated the All-American Girls Baseball League formed in World War II by then Chicago Cubs owner Phillip Wrigley. The league's story was told in the movie "A League Of Their Own." Elliott played on several men's baseball teams as well as women's softball. She more than held her own. "The men didn't like that," she said. "I had some outstanding throws that they couldn't handle. It would come to the plate and drop right at the plate. They would hit their shins trying to hit me."

To further entertain crowds, she would pitch blindfolded. "I could actually pitch blindfolded and hit the target," she said. "I learned how to pitch blindfolded when I played on men's teams at Woodward and at Arnett." One prominent men's softball pitcher found out how good she was. "This world champion pitcher saw me at the bowling alley," she said. "He said the way you throw that bowling ball ... I bet you can pitch."

She confessed to him she could. He wanted to see her pitch ...she had to remind him she was married. "I told him we play on the beach and you can watch all 11 of us," Elliott said. "He ended up marrying my girlfriend." The pitcher would tell her she was the fastest pitcher he had seen. She told him she always wondered how fast she could throw. "He told me I'll get a bat and I'll tell you," she said. "He said I was pitching 90 to 95 miles per hour. I knew I was pitching fast. My favorite pitch was one that would drop at the plate. All the men didn't like it at all."

Her pitching feats did get her noticed by the All-American Girls League. She was involved in building the B-24 and had been transferred to Dallas. "They were looking for me but that was about the time my husband got out of the service," she said. Her career wasn't over yet. She threw a no-hitter in Dumas, Texas in the late 1940s after not pitching for five years.

Elliott was working as a nurse there when a stranger approached her. She thought he was going to quiz her about something she and her fellow nurses took. "He said `Would you a pitch a game for us,"' Elliott said," and I said you better believe it. He said `get your coach and come down to practice.' I pitched a no-hitter against Lubbock, Texas that night."

Her playing roots are in northwest Oklahoma. She'll proudly tell you the best catcher and best third baseman she ever played with came from Mooreland. She goes to Guthrie every April for the 89er Day Parade. She and Harlem Globetrotter legend Meadowlark Lemon have signed autographs together. She jokes there's nothing she hasn't done. She told the airline officials this was first her plane ride and ended up having the pilot lead the passengers in an ovation for her. "I may be 80 years old but I have over 100 years of experience," she said with a chuckle. No one will doubt that.