Charlene Barnett

Charlene Barnett ("Barney") (March 13, 1928 – January 25, 1979) was an infielder who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She batted and threw right-handed.

Born in Elgin, Illinois, Charlene Barnett filled a consistent role during her four seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A three-time champion team member, she was a versatile infielder, playing mainly at second base, while adding deep defense at third base and shortstop. Considered a light hitter, she combined her usual brilliant defense with a decent bit of offense for a hitter placed at bottom of the batting order.

Unfortunately, Barnett opened 1948 with the Chicago Colleens, as the league shifted players as needed to help some teams stay afloat. The Colleens, managed by experimented Dave Bancroft, were the worst in the strong Eastern Division, getting roughed up as a last-place expansion club with a 47–76 record, ending twenty nine and a half games out of the first place spot. Barnett was a regular at second base, appearing in a career-high 106 games, while batting .165 with a .941 fielding average. As a result, from 1949 through 1950 the Colleens became a rookie development team that played exclusively exhibition games.

Then Barnett found herself on the move again, but this time she found a most positive environment after joining the Rockford Peaches from 1949 to 1950. With Bill Allington at the helm, the Peaches were the most successful team in league history, winning four championships titles in twelve seasons, including three in a row between 1948 and 1950.

In that season, Rockford pitchers Lois Florreich (0.67) and Helen Fox (0.98) allowed less than one earned run per each nine innings, while the Peaches had a high powered offense led by outfielders Eleanor Callow and Rose Gacioch and first sacker Kamenshek. Rockford swept South Bend in the best-of-seven first round, and defeated Grand Rapids in the best-of-five final round, three games to one, to clinch the championship.

Following her baseball career, Barnett became a flight attendant.

In 1988, nine years after her death at age 50, Charlene Barnett 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.

Career statistics Batting Fielding GPPOAETCDPFA 349 725 657 84 1466 104 .943