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Claire Lobrovich

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Claire Lobrovich
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Fourth outfielder
Born: April 5, 1923
Campbell, California
Died: July 29, 2011(2011-07-29) (aged 88)
Watsonville, California[1]
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • AAGPBL Championship Title (1948)
  • Women in Baseball – AAGPBL Permanent Display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (unveiled in 1988)

Claire Lobrovich Krumpotich (April 5, 1923 – July 29, 2011) was an outfielder who played from 1947 to 1948 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right handed.[2][3]

Lobrovich was born in Campbell, California, to Mitchell and Mary (née Brayevich) Lobrovich. Her father, born Mihovil Lobrović, was Croatian, while her maternal grandparents were Slovenian emigrants.[4] She spent two seasons in the league, including a year with the 1948 pennant-winning Rockford Peaches.[3]

'Buttons', as her teammates dubbed her,[2] posted a batting average of .209 (54-for-258) with three doubles and two triples in 81 games, driving in 21 runs and scoring 22 times while stealing 15 bases.[5] At outfield, she recorded 69 putouts with seven assists and committed six errors in 82 total chances for a .927 fielding average.[5]

In 1988, Claire Lobrovich received further recognition when she became part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than any individual figure.[6]

In 1951, she married John Krumpotich, a semi-professional baseball player.[7] She resided in Watsonville, California until her death in 2011.[8]

Sources

[edit]
  1. ^ Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
  2. ^ a b Profile. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League website
  3. ^ a b Madden, W. C. (2005) The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2263-0
  4. ^ 1940 United States Federal Census. Year: 1940; Census Place: Campbell, Santa Clara, California.
  5. ^ a b Madden, W. C. (2000) All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-0597-8
  6. ^ Before A League of Their Own. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
  7. ^ "John Lewis Krumpotich's Obituary on Mercury News". San Jose Mercury News. December 9, 2003. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  8. ^ "Claire Krumpotich - July 29, 2011 - Obituary". Tributes.com.