Back in the 80's when I hosted local card shows I had the opportunity to meet Dotty Ferguson Key who lived in Rockford, Illinois with her husband. Dotty was a stocky woman who had the firmest handshake of any woman I have ever met. I knew she played for the Rockford Peaches and a few other teams but I wish I knew more about her at the time. Turns out she had one hell of a athletic career separate from baseball. Her husband also was an athlete and I believe both were Olympians for Canada.
Pictured here is Dotty with her husband surrounded by one of my kids and my co-promoters family. Knowing what I know now I just wish I could go back and talk to her more about her life. She had a great one thats for sure.
I have a autographed picture that she gave me from her playing days. I will have to dig that out and post it.
The interesting thing is that she told me she could not accept any payment for her appearance because all of the surviving ladies apparently made an agreement that they would not accept fees when promoting the memory of the league they all played in. We ended up making a donation in her honor for the amount we would have paid her to her favorite charity but I thought it was cool that the ladies all agreed to not accept appearance fees.