Abstract	Mary O'Meara was interviewed by Clement C. GrawOzburn on July 2, 2003, for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League oral history collection. Mary was born in Minster, Ohio, a small town near Dayton. An AAGPBL talent scout spotted Froning when she was playing an afternoon softball game. He saw that she had speed and a strong throwing arm and invited her to a tryout. At age 16, she was recruited by the South Bend Blue Sox of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She signed with the Blue Sox in 1951 and played with them through 1954 when the league disbanded. Mary spent the 1952 season with the Battle Creek Belles. Once the league disbanded in 1954, Mary Froning was one the players selected by former Fort Wayne Daisies manager Bill Allington to play in the national touring team known as the All-Americans. The Allington All-Stars played 100 games between 1954 and 1958, each booked in a different town, against male teams, while traveling over 10,000 miles in the manager's station wagon. In 1988, Mary became part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. In 2003, Mary was honored by having her name added to the Wall of Honor at the Brewers Stadium in MIlwaukee Wisconsin. Never losing her love of baseball, Mary coached in Madison, WI, until 1998, where she lives with her husband, Tom.
Interviewee	O'Meara, Mary Froning, 1934-
Interviewer	GrawOzburn, Clement C.
Owner	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Type of resource	text
Genre	index
Genre authority	marcgt
Publisher name	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Place of publication	La Crosse, Wisconsin
Date published	2003-07-02
Date captured	2023-05-25
Language	eng
Width	8.5
Height	10.99
Subject topic	O'Meara, Mary Froning, 1934- -- Interviews Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	All-American Girls Professional Baseball League -- History Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	Battle Creek Belles (Baseball team) -- History Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	Oral history Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	Baseball for women -- United States -- History -- 20th century Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	Women baseball players -- United States -- Biography Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	Baseball -- History Authority: LCSH
Subject topic	South Bend Blue Sox (Baseball team) -- History Authority: LCSH
Source note	This interview is part of the UW-La Crosse Oral History Program’s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) Collection.
Source note	The interviewee played in the AAGPBL for four seasons: with the South Bend Blue Sox (1951-1954) and Battle Creek Belles (1952).
Source note	At 00:39:17 interviewee Mary (Froning) O’Meara mentions another AAGPBL player, Dolly (Vanderlip) Ozburn. An interview with Dolly (Vanderlip) Ozburn is also available as part of the UW-La Crosse Oral History Program’s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) Collection.
Use and reproduction restrictions	This material may be protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code). For more information about the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Murphy Library's copyright, fair-use, and permissions policies, please see https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/.
Collection	UWL Oral History Program Collection / All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) Collection
ID	db52c5e1-644f-4d39-abba-c9d26049e87a/wlacu000/00000018/00000318
Doi	18-0318
Related items	Oral history interview with Mary (Froning) O'Meara / interviewed by Clement C. GrawOzburn