Wanless (AAGBPL)
Betty Wanless Decker (1928-1995) got her start playing softball with the Trinity Lutheran and the Madison Furniture Co. women’s softball teams while still attending Lanphier High School. After graduation, she joined the Caterpillar Dieselettes in Peoria; from 1949 to 1952, she played for the Bluebirds in Chicago’s National Girls Baseball League, a professional softball league.
In 1953, Wanless was recruited to play for the Grand Rapids Chicks in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Nicknamed “Duke” by her teammates, Wanless led the league in fielding at third base with a .924 mark. She reportedly hit the longest home run ever at the old Grand Rapids ballpark, an estimated 425 feet.
In 1954, Wanless moved to the South Bend (Ind.) Blue Sox, which advanced to the playoffs only to be beaten by the Kalamazoo Lassies.
Following her baseball career, Wanless married Daniel Decker. She is buried in Barker Creek, Mich.
Contributor: Thanks to Anna Sielaff, local history librarian at Lincoln Library’s Sangamon Valley Collection.
Original content copyright Sangamon County Historical Society. You are free to republish this content as long as credit is given to the Society. Learn how to support the Society.