Softball Players
Softball in USA is a part of a culture, at the beginning it was only a men’s sport. However, through the times women start playing it and it became only women’s sport as an easier version of baseball (men’s sport). Softball has its own stars and two of them it is Billie Harris and Kathryn “Sis” King. They are both had significant role in development of Softball.
Billie Harris played for a team called the Sunshine Girls in 1948, where she initially had hard times because coaches were harsh with her about how strong she was compared to other girls. Harris only wanted to play the best game as she could because she knew how to play and she was very talented. When they played a game in Phoenix against the Ramblers, they couldn't help but notice Harris not only had control and speed as a pitcher, she was also tough at the plate and could run the bases like nobody's business. Harrison broke in with the Tucson Sunshine Girls in l947, moved to the nationally ranked Ramblers in 1952, joined the Yakima Washington Webbcats in 1966 and returned to pitch for the Sun City Saints in 1970. When the Phoenix Birds joined the Women’s Professional League in 1976, she left the amateur ranks to compile a 33-13 record. In that time, she had 264 hits in 370 games, scored 123 runs, and drove in 59 runs. It was not only significant performance for Billie Harris as an athlete, but also she was the first African-American, which is put a lot of pressure on her personality. Billie Harris was the first African-American player on Arizona’s first women’s softball team during the racially tumultuous 1950s and ’60s and she was the first African-American woman inducted into several Halls of Fame, including Arizona in 1979, National Softball in 1982 and Tucson Softball in 1993. Billie Harris also coached women’s softball at MCC and played with the Lady T-Birds when she was 54, and again after she turned 60.
Strong personality of the Billie Harris, came from her mother who warned her that she would face the prejudice in everything she did just based on the color of her skin. In her way to success, Billie experienced a lot of intolerance. She was lucky to change her team to the Ramblers, because her new coach gradually added Billie to the games, even that it might be cause some disapproval from the fans. But fans loved her fastpitch style and this is why Billie is so dear and important in history of Softball, because she showed people that no matter what color you are, if you are good in what you do, you can achieve your goal, no matter what. She opened new way for African-American and showed them that it worth it to fight for your dream.
Billie not just went strong through hard times, when people were undeservedly to her because of her color of skin, she made a big performance in her professional skills. She was the most valuable player in the 1969 national tournament in Tucson, she was a five-time All-American pitcher and was voted to the Pacific Coast Women’s Softball League all-star team 18 times. She was the left- handed pitcher, who authored two perfect games during 1963 for the famous PBSW Ramblers of Phoenix and during her career averaged three no-hit, no- run games per season. During 18 seasons in the Pacific Coast League she fashioned an earned run average of 1.50 and was rated among the league’s top three pitchers in games won.
Kathryn "Sis" King got hooked on playing softball at the age of 8, when she was a bat girl for the Kohstall Tomboys. She went on to play for many years in Arizona, Connecticut and Ohio, and is a member of six softball Halls of Fame - the National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, the Connecticut Hall of Fame in Stratford, CT, the Hudepohl Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, OH, the Caldwell Hall of Fame in Ohio, the Arizona Hall of Fame and the American Softball Association in Shelton. She was inducted into Softball Hall of Fame in 1975. She played both infield and outfield for the world famous Phoenix PBWS