Charlotte’s overlooked baseball pioneer – thecharlotteledger.com

Charlotte’s overlooked baseball pioneer  thecharlotteledger.com

Today's Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health. Atrium Health is redefining care for all by delivering nationally recognized specialty and virtual care for patients in over 1,000 care locations across seven states. Editor’s note: You see their names on street signs or parks, but who were some of the big-name people from decades ago who shaped Charlotte? They have fascinating stories, and for the next few Saturdays, we’re sharing them with you. Dolly “Lippy” Vanderlip might be Charlotte’s most underrated modern-day celebrity. Born in Charlotte in 1937, Dolly came of age during Charlotte’s textile mill heyday, in a world shaped by long work hours, neighborhoods defined by mills and leisure time filled with community athletics.

Baseball was the dominant pastime in those days, and Dolly excelled at the sport. Despite the widespread exclusion of girls from organized teams and development programs in the 1940s, Dolly learned the game by playing on sandlots, in neighborhood games, and through local softball leagues. Charlotte's sports culture revolved around the mill villages in the region and the “textile ball” leagues, which for a number of years in the early 20th century were more popular in North Carolina than Major League Baseball. Dolly Vanderlip of Charlotte debuted as a pitcher for the Fort Wayne Daisies of a women’s professional baseball