Janet Wiley

Janet M. Wiley [Sears] (October 12, 1933 – July 10, 2010) was an infielder and pitcher who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at , 112 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.

A member of a champion team, Janet Wiley saw her career shortened due to a severe injury and a polemic suspension.

Born in South Bend, Indiana, Janet was one of six children. She was called ״Pee Wee״, a nickname that she acquired at an early age while playing sandlot ball with her three brothers and the boys of her neighborhood.

Wiley also participated in summer training camps sponsored by the Blue Sox. The team developed these camps to encourage South Bend girls who wished to play baseball but had no opportunities at their schools. She had many chances to play first base and decided she would do that rather than pitch as she had originally planned. When she turned 16, she was invited to a tryout and made the Blue Sox roster, even though she was still in high school. She hit a .289 average for them before joining South Bend midway through the season. Best known for her fielding skills, she shared duties at first base with Dorothy Mueller. Wiley managed only 13 hits in 97 at-bats for a measly .134 average in 40 games, as she recognized in an interview with these words: She was a better batter than I was. while becoming a regular at the first sack when Mueller was pitching. She also posted career numbers in games played (70), at-bats (181) and hits (40), while driving in 13 runs and scoring 11 times. With Karl Winsch at the helm, South Bend won both the pennant and the champion title for the first time in league history.

Nevertheless, Wiley was signed by the Rockford Peaches before the 1953 season. She played in just 33 games because of recurrent knee ailments.

Wiley left the league behind and married Donald L. Sears in 1955. The couple raised six children, three boys and three girls in the Michiana area centered on South Bend. She always thought that her experience in the league helped her as a mother. It helped me to encourage our girls to be whatever they wanted to be and the boys to respect them for it, she proudly explained.

After her baseball days, Janet coached junior softball for ten years, attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions, and enjoyed woodworking and gardening. Besides this, she stayed in her hometown and watched over her nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Since 1988 she is 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.

Janet Wiley Sears died in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 76. She is buried at Southlawn Cemetery in Centre Township, Indiana.

Career statistics Batting

Pitching GPWLW-L%ERAIPHRAERBBSO 1 0 0 .000 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 0

Fielding GPPOAETCDPFA 127 1086 48 34 1168 41 .971