TRIBUTES have poured in for baseball icon Betsy Jochum, who has died aged 104.
Jochum, a former outfielder, first basewoman and pitcher, passed away on Saturday, May 31, in Southfield Village in Indiana.
APBaseball icon Besty Jochum passed away late last month aged 104[/caption]Her passing was announced by The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which she began playing in all the way back in 1943.
A snippet of an AAGPBL statement read: “On May 31st, 2025, we lost one of our superstars, the last original 1943 player [from] South Bend Blue Sox, 104-year-old, Betsy “Sockum” Jochum.
“Betsy was born February 8, 1921 and was a former outfielder, first basewoman and pitcher who played from 1943 through 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
“She was listed at 5′ 7” and batted and threw right-handed.”
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum also paid tribute to the late Jochum, who they immortalised with a permanent display in 1988.
Their social media tribute read: “The Hall of Fame remembers former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League star Betsy ‘Sockum’ Jochum, who passed away on May 31 at the age of 104.
“Jochum, an original member of the South Bend Blue Sox, played six seasons and won the league’s batting crown in 1944.”
Jochum was the last member of the original group that inspired the 1992 hit movie ‘A League of Their Own’.
APBetsy Jochum debuted in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1943[/caption]She began her AAGPBL career in 1943 when she signed with the South Bend Blue Sox, whom she enjoyed five years with.
Joining the league remained an incredible source of pride for Jochum long after she hung up her cleats.
She told The South Bend Tribune in 2012: “When I got picked to play in the league, it was amazing.
“I was actually going to get paid for playing a game. Girls didn’t do that back then.”
In honour of the late Jochum, a special screening of ‘A League of Their Own’ will take place at South Bend’s ‘Movies at the Park’ event at Howard Park on Friday.
Jochum is survived by her sister, Frances, and “her good friends, Phyllis Smallwood and Diane Gram.”
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