Woman Played For the 1901 Washington Senators

Jan 31, 2010

eTRUE SPORTS EXCLUSIVE: Kansas Woman Claims Grandmother Was Pitcher/Outfielder

Will Dale Gear Finally Get Her Due?

Lone Elm, KS – “My grandmother threw serious heat,” says Winifred Gear Swanson,  a 96-year-old grandmother herself, who claims her forebear, Dale Gear, was the first – and remains the only – woman to play Major League Baseball.

“It’s been an open family secret for over a hundred years,” explained Mrs. Swanson, “and it’s high time the world learns the truth. Dale Gear, my granny, was a pitcher and an outfielder for the Washington Senators in the first year of their existence, 1901. And she was pretty damn good.

"I’ve always felt women can do anything,” added Swanson, “and this proves it.”

The Baseball Encyclopedia does in fact list a Dale Gear, an outfielder and pitcher for the American League’s Washington Senators in 1901, who batted .232 as an outfielder and had a 4-11 record with a 4.03 era as a pitcher. It does not indicate Gear’s gender, but does include a middle name - Dudley.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking,” the feisty Swanson said to a reporter in an interview at her farm outside Lone Elm. “’Dudley is a man’s name and I’m full of beans.’ Well, you’d be wrong. Dudley is a Gear family name, and if you care to check any cemetery in Anderson County you’ll find a passel of Dudleys.

“Other than people not knowing that a woman played major league baseball, you know what goll-darn bugs the family the most? That Jimmy Manning, didn’t pitch Dale more. Good lord, her ERA was almost under 4. If she were pitching today, she’d a made the all-star team.”

A still skeptical reporter was preparing to leave when Mrs. Swanson produced a signed Washington Senators team photograph, inscribed to “Our Dale, the finest girl ball player in the land.” Mrs. Swanson then produced a birth certificate, dated February 2, 1872 for a “girl child” named Dale Dudley Gear.

If the Dale Gear smiling widely in the Washington Senator’s 1901 team photograph is a man, it is certainly the prettiest man this reporter has ever seen.

When reached for comment, baseball historian and New York Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock was reluctant to comment until learning that Mrs. Swanson was, at last, going public with the story of Dale Gear.

"When I visited famed memorabilia collector Barry Halper at his home about ten years ago, he showed me a Dale Gear uniform. It had a big "W" on the front, and no number, of course. I asked him why he collected that uniform, considering that most of his uniforms had been worn by Hall of Famers like Grover Cleveland Alexander and Walter Johnson. Barry, who knew as much about the history of the game as anyone I knew, whispered to me, "Dale Gear was a woman." I asked, "How do you know that?" He reached inside the uniform, and he pulled out the bra she wore during games. He said, "This is the only game-worn bra in baseball history."

Why did the family choose to keep what may be one of sports most remarkable stories secret for nearly 100 years? “Jimmy Manning wasn’t only the manager, he was also the owner and he made Dale promise that if he let her play, she’d keep her lip buttoned. Dale wanted to play baseball more than anything else in the world. So she gave her word. And Dale was a woman of her word.”

So why has Mrs. Swanson decided to break the family’s code of silence? “I’m not getting any younger, obviously,” says Swanson. “I think Dale would understand why we’ve made this decision. We’ve kept the secret for over a 100 years. Enough’s enough. The world is different, and it sure needs some good news as far as I can tell. I think Dale’s story will be an inspiration to girls – and boys – all over the world. And second, our town needs help real bad.”

In the last census, Lone Elm, Kansas had a population of just 27. “We’re afraid there won’t be a Lone Elm anymore unless we do something.”

Mrs. Swanson, with an impish grin, reached under her kitchen table to produce a wooden milk box containing a time-worn, yet well-preserved, baseball wrapped in cheese cloth.

“Here’s Dale’s autograph on this ball,” said Swanson proudly, "and it’s going up on eBay. One of the eBay folks told me this ball is worth in excess of $1 million dollars,” said Swanson proudly. “That money – the legacy of Dale Gear - will save Lone Elm. You see we’re going to build the first Women’s Baseball Hall of Fame here. And guess who’s going to be the first inductee?”

It seems time – way past time actually – for Dale Gear, outfielder, pitcher, woman – to assume her place in American history. We have 96-year old Winifred Gear Swanson to thank for this gift.

“When I think about it, what my grandmother did … what Dale Gear did …is almost unbelievable. That no one knows about it …has ever known about it --- may be more unbelievable.

“I just think Dale Gear deserves to be remembered. Don’t you?”

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