Career
She both batted and threw right-handed. Her nickname was Smokey. She measured in at 5 feet 7 inches and weighed 145 pounds.
Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Lenora became a pioneer in women"s baseball, having featured in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on November 6, 1988.
As well, she was a local duckpin bowler. She worked for the Glasshouse in Glassport, Operating Engineers Local 66 Insurance Fund in Monroeville and Copperweld until she retired.
She died in Herminie, Pennsylvania.
Lenora first began her involvement in baseball when Phillip K. Wrigley -- owner of the Chicago Cubs -- financed the league in the mid-1940s, when a lot of the men were called up to serve in World World War World War II In 1949, Lenora attended a tryout at McKeesport"s Renziehausen Park. From that, she was sent on a trip to Sound Bend, Indiana for spring training.
Lenora played for the Peoria Redwings (in 1951), the South Bend Blue Sox (in 1949), and the Springfield Sallies (in 1950.
Following her baseball career, Lenora coached softball for many years. Even in her later years she received requests from local slow-pitch softball coaches to help out with practice. In terms of hobbies, she had a real love of cats, taking in as many as 22 stray cats at one time.
