In a League of Their Own

                 Ruth Richard and Gertrude (Gert) Alderfer Benner are two local members of the 1950s All-American Girls Baseball League that was the inspiration for the 1992 movie "A League of their Own."
                 When young women were expected to marry, settle down, raise a family, Ruth Richard had other ideas.
                 "People in the neighborhood didn't know where the heck I went,"  she said.
                 It was 1947 and the Sell-Perk High School grad had grabbedher glove and gone to play professional ball.
                 Richard, of West Rockhill, was one of about 600 women who played for the All-American Girls Baseball League, made famous by the 1992 film "A League of their Own."
                 "It was the best time of our lives," she said.
                 On Wednesday, Richard, now 84, will share her baseball memories at Encore Experiences, a senior citizens activity center in Harleysville.
                  She will be joined by fellow league player and friend, Gert Alderfer Benner, who grew up in Sellersville and also attended Sell-Perk High (now Pennridge).
                  Encore Experiences' program director, Michele Ross, said the event is designed as a different take on a traditional Veterans Day program.  It honors women's contributions to the war effort.
                  During World War II, women were asked to step into the jobs vacated by men who had gone off to fight.  Think Rosie the Riverter.
                  Baseball was no exception.  The professional women's league began in 1943 because minor league teams were already collapsing from the loss of players.  There was concern that Major League teams would follow suit.
                  Chicago Cubs' owner Philip Wrigley (of chewing gum fame), and others, stepped in to create the women's league, developing a game that evolved from a softball -inspired one to a more conventional baseball format.  Teams were based in the Midwest.
                  The league's name, ownership, and size changed several times over the years but it managed to outlast the war, operating until 1954.
                  "They didn't think it would last as long as it did," said Richard.   "People really did enjoy watching women play and we really did play a good game of baseball."
                  Both Richard and Benner played softball in school and attended tryouts in Allentown.  Both women say their families were supportive of the idea.
                  "I had never been away from home for any lenght of time," said Benner, now 81.  "But being a girl in a familywith five brothers, I had learned to handle myself."
                  Team uniforms consited of a one-piece tunic with short skirt.  Sliding into bases left nasty burns.  The women often lived in private homes, had chaperones, and strict curfews.
                  They were even made to attend a charm school.  Salaries ranged from $45 to more than $85 per week.
                  Richard spent most of her career as a catcher for the Rockford Peaches, the team featured in "A League of Their Own."
                  "I was Geena Davis," she jokes.
                  Benner played first base and did some catching.  She spent a couple years with the Chicago Colleens and Springfield Sallies, travel teams that toured the country playing exhibitions to recruit new players and spread the word about the league.
                  The highlight of Benner's career was playing a preliminary game at Yankee Stadium.
                  After the league disbanded, Richard spent four years on a league travel team, playing against semi-professional men's teams.  She returned home and played on some local teams until hanging up her glove in 1960.
                  "I had a lot of fun with all this ball playing" she said.
                  Benner left the league in 1950 after her mother got sick.   Benner married in 1955 and had three children.
                  Both women worked at the former Ametek U.S. Gauge plant in Sellersville.
                  Today, Richard and Benner still get requests for appearances.  After "A League of Their Own" was released, the popularity of the former players soared.
                  "Everybody went crazy.  I get letters in the mail for autographs.  It's amazing," said Benner, who now resides in East Greenville.