Real ‘A League of Their Own’ woman: Baseball legend Jean Faut of Rock Hill dies at 98
The well-known movie “A League of Their Own” about women’s professional baseball after World War II remains part of American sports lore and film mythology.
But Jean Faut of Rock Hill was real.
Faut, one of the greatest pitchers in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League who threw perfect games and no-hitters in her career, died in South Carolina on Feb. 28, according to her obituary published in The Herald.
She was 98.
Faut passed away in Rock Hill, the obituary said.
Faut had been honored as part of an exhibit at the Major League Baseball hall of fame, American Girls Baseball and others for her pitching, which made her widely known as one of the greatest female overhand baseball pitchers ever, according to MLB.com.
In 2017 at age 92, she threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Charlotte Knights baseball game and was honored by the team, The Charlotte Observer reported. The Observer published photos and a video of the honors in 2017.
American Girls Baseball published on their Facebook page, “Her contributions to the game will never be forgotten.”
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League inspired the 1992 ‘A League of Their Own’ movie starring Tom Hanks, Madonna, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell and other stars, according to the baseball hall of fame, MLB.com, and other sources.
Faut, a native of Pennsylvania, was a real-life star in that league for the South Bend Blue Sox. She played in the league from 1946 to 1953, according to MLB.com.
She was twice the league’s player of the year and a many time all-star. The league stated on Twitter social media that Faut is the only professional pitcher of any gender to throw two perfect games.
In a 2013 interview with The Herald, Faut recalled being scouted in 1946. Back then, Faut had a “war job” that supported the nation’s efforts in World War II: She worked in a factory making military officers’ uniform pants, The Herald reported previously.
“Those were the days when the women just stayed home, had kids and took care of the meals,” the then-88-year-old Rock Hill grandmother said.
Faut joined nearly 500 other rookies at spring training that year. Her team, the South Bend Blue Sox, won back-to-back championships in 1951 and 1952. The pay starting out: $85 a week.
The league’s influence on society “gave women a lot more freedom to do what they wanted to do,” Faut said in 2013.
After leaving the league in 1953, Faut became an administrative assistant at the mosquito disease research center at the University of Notre Dame. She worked with graduate students from around the world and professors who were studying ways to combat diseases carried by mosquitoes.
In Rock Hill, Faut was a longtime member of Grace Lutheran Church.
A funeral is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. at the church in Rock Hill, according to the obituary.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Real ‘A League of Their Own’ woman: Baseball legend Jean Faut of Rock Hill dies at 98."
