The passing of Eleanor Engle

Eleanor Engle, who with the 1952 Harrisburg Senators becomes the first women to sign a professional contract in affiliated baseball, passes away 12 years ago today. She is 86.

Mrs. Engle, pictured here in 1952 with Harrisburg infielders Ron Esrang (left) and Joe Tuminelli, does not get a chance to play in a game for the Senators of the Class B Interstate League, though, as her contract is voided within a day by minor league president George Trautman and major league commissioner Ford Frick.

Although she lives only a few miles from the Senators' ballpark, Mrs. Engle never returns to Harrisburg’s historic City Island after the decision by Trautman and Frick.