Signed, original Rockford Peaches game ball could be museum-bound
ROCKFORD — Rex Parker has a few key pieces of sports memorabilia in his collection, including a baseball signed by Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams and signed balls from tennis greats Arthur Ashe and Tracy Austin.
He’s also been holding onto an original All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ball he snagged at a Rockford Peaches game when he was in high school.
“I don’t recall if it was a foul ball and I caught it, or I pulled it out of the weeds, but it’s from a game,” Parker said.
Parker, a 1955 graduate of Rockford West High School, brought the baseball to the Penny Marshall celebration in Rockford back in 2019 and had it signed by former league players Shirley Burkovich, Maybelle Blaire, Mary Moore, and former Peaches bat girls Clara (Swenson) Hellemann, Charlene (Hawes) O’Brien, and Doris Johnson.
The unique ball measures 10 inches, the size of All-American Girls Professional Baseball League baseballs from 1949-1953. The league went to 9-inch balls in 1954. Parker said he started thinking about it again in recent weeks as the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” spawned another Rockford Peaches festival to celebrate the Amazon Prime Video series of the same name.
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Parker and his wife, Carol, have another reason for keeping the ball around all these years. Clara Hellemann and another Peaches bat girl, the late Susan (Swanson) Black, were their West High classmates. Hellemann roomed with Carol at Illinois State University. Black’s husband was Parker’s best man when he and Carol got married.
“And Sue was one of my girls standing up in the wedding,” Carol said.
The Parkers both watched the Peaches play and say the action was just as lively as the men’s game, and the city really bought into having its own professional team. Crowds were sizable and fans participated, always cheering the players on.
“Rockford wasn’t 150,000 (people) at that time, but people really felt it was a new era for the girls, and the girls were tough,” Rex Parker said. “They were good.”
A retired executive who ran the Clock Tower Resort for 26 years, Parker played baseball in his youth but shined more on the hardwood. He was the captain of West’s 1955 state championship basketball team and went on to play at Illinois State. He was also on the West football team and played games at Beyer Stadium Park, the home of the Peaches.
As for his special All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ball, Parker says once the International Women’s Baseball Center is built next to Beyer Stadium, he may donate it to the museum.
Jim Hagerty covers general news, schools, and courts. Contact him at 815-987-1345 or jhagerty@rrstar.com. Twitter: @jimhagerty Facebook: /hagertyjim
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford man cherishes Rockford Peaches game ball, memories
