Bethany Goldsmith

Bethany Joan "Beth" Goldsmith (October 6, 1927 – October 24, 2004) was a pitcher who played from 1948 through 1950 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , 160 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

Born in Elgin, Illinois, Goldsmith started playing sandlot ball with the boys of her neighborhood at age 12 and organized softball for the McGraw Electric team when she was a teenager. Charlene Barnett, a former teammate on the McGraw team who had joined the AAGPBL the previous year, advised Goldsmith to attend the next spring training of the league in Opa-locka, Florida. Primarily an outfielder, she attended the tryout and was converted into a pitcher on the strength of her arm and her quick overhand delivery. She then was assigned to the Kenosha Comets to start the 1948 season.

In her rookie year Goldsmith posted a 14–14 record and a 1.68 earned run average in 31 pitching appearances, striking out 117 batters in 245 innings of work. That year, she went 8–11 with a 3.09 ERA in 29 games. Fourth place Kenosha advanced to the postseason, but lost to Muskegon in the best-of-three first round. In her only career playoff game, Goldsmith pitched two perfect innings of relief while striking out three. Goldsmith improved to 12–9 with a .368 ERA in 1950, her last season in the league. In all, she finished with 34–34 record and a 2.72 ERA in 87 games.

Following her baseball career, she worked for AT&T company for 30 years. After retiring in 1984, she attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions and enjoyed playing golf in her home of Orlando, Florida.

Goldsmith forms part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Career statistics Pitching GPWLW-L%ERAIPHRAERBBSOHBPWPWHIP 87 34 34 .500 2.72 622 410 251 188 332 246 44 17 1.19

Batting

Fielding GPPOAETCDPFA 87 31 132 12 175 2 .932