Barbara Payne

Barbara J. "Bobbie" Payne (September 18, 1932 – March 11, 2024) was an American infielder and reliever who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , 118 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

Biography A Shreveport native, Barbara Payne was the only girl born in the state of Louisiana to join the league in its twelve years history.

At age of 11 Payne was the youngest girl to play on the Shreveport Garmet softball team. She then joined the Elite Cleaners in 1949, when the AAGPBL rookie touring teams stopped in Shreveport for exhibition games. The Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies traveled together over much of the eastern half of the United States playing games against each other to recruit new players. The tour gave these new recruits an opportunity to play and also gave the league the opportunity to develop new baseball talent around the country. The teams held a tryout at Shreveport and signed Payne up. She was assigned to the Springfield team and made her debut in her hometown before going on an exhausting tour of 22 states.

In 1951 the league suffered its three-year attendance slide and began having financial difficulties. The Kenosha Comets and the Peoria Redwings were forced to fold after the season, leaving the league with six clubs. Some players, Payne among others, were seeing the beginning of the end and they were cautious. Many of them made their move to other leagues and others opted to retire. Then, she took up a career as a radiology technician that would take her to work for a government office for 40 years. After retiring in 1992, she embarked on a career as a golfer that led her to get a number of local titles to her credit. Finally, the league folded at the end of the 1954 season.

Payne later resided in Surprise, Arizona. She died on March 11, 2024, at the age of 91.

Career statistics Batting

Fielding GPPOAETCDPFA 195 347 424 115 886 43 .879 Note: Since the league counted the 1950 tour as exhibition games no official statistics were kept.