{{Short description|Canadian baseball player}} {{more citations needed|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Doris Barr | image = Doris Barr.jpg | image_size = | caption = | team = | position = Pitcher | birth_date= {{birth date|1921|8|26|mf=y}} | birth_place= Starbuck, Manitoba, Canada | death_date= {{death date and age|2009|7|12|1921|8|26}} | death_place= Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | bats = Left | throws = Left | debutyear = {{by|1943}}, | debutteam = South Bend Blue Sox | finalyear = {{by|1952}}, | finalteam = Peoria Redwings | stat1label = Win–loss record | stat1value = 79–94 | stat2label = Strikeouts | stat2value = 572 | stat3label = Earned run average | stat3value = 3.16 | stat4label = Games pitched | stat4value = 218 | teams = *South Bend Blue Sox (1943–1946) *Racine Belles (1946–1947) *Springfield Sallies (1948) *Muskegon Lassies (1949) *Kalamazoo Lassies (1950) *Peoria Redwings (1950) | highlights = *Pitched a no-hitter (1945) *AAGPBL Championship (1946) *Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Induction (1998) *Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame Induction (1998) *Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame Induction (2004) |hofcolor = |hoflink = |hoftype = |hofdate = }}
'''Doris "Dodie" Barr''' (August 26, 1921 – July 12, 2009) was a Canadian pitcher who played from {{by|1943}} through {{by|1952}} in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5' 6", 145 lb., Barr batted and threw left-handed. She was born in Starbuck, Manitoba, Canada.<ref name=AAGPBL>[http://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/doris-barr-dodie/259 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – Doris Barr]. Retrieved 2026-03-03.</ref>
==Early life== {{unreferenced section|date=July 2020}} Doris, daughter of Malcolm and Susan Barr, was just a small town girl before she found herself being swept up into the world of women's baseball at the height of the World War II. A dominant lefty hurler, she enjoyed a prolific career over eight seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, winning a League Championship title and earning three inductions into several baseball halls of fame across North America.
The AAGBL flourished in the 1940s when the Major Leagues went on hold as men went to war. The league lasted a little over a decade, dismantling in 1954. Still, the void the league filled during wartime was inspiration enough for the 1992 film ''A League of Their Own'', directed by Penny Marshall and starred by Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna.
==Career== {{unreferenced section|date=July 2020}} Barr started her baseball career in 1937 when she was just 16, after being spotted by scouts while playing catch with her sister. That sparked a five-year stint in Canada, where she pitched for the Winnipeg Ramblers (1938–1939) and Regina Army and Navy Bombers (1940–1942).<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 Jun 1941 |title=Regina Bombers, Flashy Girls' Softball Team, Here July 3 |url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Kx5lAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA17&dq=%22Doris+Barr%22&article_id=1687,6170217&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3n9nesriUAxUjklYBHSTEGiQ4MhDoAXoECA8QAw |work=Edmonton Journal |pages=17}}</ref> She was picked up by the AAGBL when she was 21, and earned a reputation as a powerful lefty hurler with a rocket of a throw.<ref name=AAGPBL/> While playing for the Bombers in 1941, she was credited for their title-winning victory over Saskatoon.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 Aug 1941 |title=Bombers Champs as Cashews Crack Up |url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=irpTAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=%22Doris+Barr%22&article_id=1832,5623574&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimj5-hrriUAxW_sFYBHbcUNx44ChDoAXoECA8QAw |work=The Leader-Post |pages=16}}</ref>
Barr entered the league in 1943 with the South Bend Blue Sox, playing for them three and a half years before joining the Racine Belles (1946–1947), Springfield Sallies (1948), Muskegon Lassies (1949), Peoria Redwings (1950) and Kalamazoo Lassies (1950). Her most productive season came in 1945, both for South Bend and Racine, when she posted career-numbers in wins (20), earned run average (1.71) and winning percentage (.714), while striking out 104 in 31 pitching appearances. That same season, she also pitched the first no-hitter in Racine history in a game against the Fort Wayne Daisies (July 1, 1945).<ref>[https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-30-1945-racines-janet-jacobs-knocks-catcher-unconscious-for-walk-off-inside-the-park-homer/ August 30, 1945: Racine’s Janet Jacobs knocks catcher unconscious for walk-off, inside-the-park homer]. by Gary Belleville. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2026-03-03.</ref>
In 1946 Barr helped Racine to a Championship after pitching the winning game that put them in the Play-Offs. The next season, he went 14–12 with a 2.26 ERA and 96 strikeouts, while in 1948 she recorded a 2.68 ERA with a career-high 116 strikeouts despite her 7–19 record for the Sallies.<ref name=AAGPBL/>
In an eight-season career, Barr posted a 79–94 record with a 3.16 ERA and 572 strikeouts in 218 games. She also helped herself with the bat, hitting a 2.69 batting average, and was a competent outfielder as well, collecting a .932 lifetime fielding average.<ref name=AAGPBL/>
==Personal life== Barr retired in 1950 and settled into a life as an accountant at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and later worked in the accounting department at the Health Sciences Centre.<ref name=AAGPBL/>
Eleven girls from Manitoba played in the AAGPBL, including Barr. All of them were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1988), the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (1998), and the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame (1998). In addition, she gained induction in the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame (2004).
Barr never married and did not have children. She died at Winnipeg, at the age of 87, and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Garden.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
==Statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" !Year!!Club(s)!!GP!!W!!L!!SO!!ERA |-align=center | 1943 || South Bend Blue Sox || 32 || 15 || 13 || 63 || 2.90 |-align=center | 1944 || South Bend Blue Sox || 29 || 8 || 11 || 62 || 2.98 |-align=center | 1945 || South Bend Blue Sox || 31 || 20 || 8 || 104 || 1.71 |-align=center | 1946 || South Bend Blue Sox<br>Racine Belles || 21 || 6 || 8 || 53 || 3.86 |-align=center | 1947 || Racine Belles || 30 || 14 || 12 || 96 || 2.26 |-align=center | 1948 || Springfield Sallies || 30 || 7 || 19 || 116 || 2.68 |-align=center | 1949 || Muskegon Lassies || 27 || 8 || 13 || 53 || 2.40 |-align=center | 1950 || Kalamazoo Lassies<br>Peoria Redwings || 18 || 1 || 11 || 25 || 6.51 |-align=center | '''8 seasons''' || '''Totals''' || 218 || 79 || 94 || 572 || 3.16 |} <ref name=AAGPBL/> ==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * ''All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Record Book'' – W. C. Madden. Publisher: McFarland & Company. Format: Paperback, 294pp. Language: English. {{ISBN|0-7864-3747-2}}. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3747-4}} *[https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-15-1943-canadas-olive-little-tosses-first-no-hitter-in-aagpbl-history/ August 15, 1943: Canada’s Olive Little tosses first no-hit, no-run game in AAGPBL history]. by Gary Belleville. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2026-03-03. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Doris}} Category:Canadian women baseball players Category:People from Winnipeg Capital Region Category:1918 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Baseball people from Manitoba Category:Sportswomen from Manitoba Category:Racine Belles (1943–1950) players Category:South Bend Blue Sox players Category:Springfield Sallies players Category:Muskegon Lassies players Category:Kalamazoo Lassies players Category:Peoria Redwings players Category:Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Category:21st-century Canadian women Category:20th-century Canadian sportswomen Category:Baseball pitchers