Sports Halloween Costume: "Dottie" Schroeder

Dressing up as a baseball player for Halloween might seem a bit ordinary but not if you will portray a real life great female baseball player like "Dottie" Schroeder from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). If you have seen the film, A League of Her Own, you might be tempted to think that Dottie Schroeder and Dottie Hinson are the same. They are not. According to the AAGBL's website, the characters in the movie although not real are based on composites of real players from the League.

Research
When you wear a sports Halloween costume for a famous person, people tend to be curious and ask questions. In fact, this can be an easy conversation starter if you are at a party. So be prepared. To start, check out the official All-American Girls Professional Baseball League website by clicking here and learn about the history of the league and its players. Dottie was the youngest player in the League at age 15. She had a terrific arm and knew how to handle a glove. In spite of not being much of a hitter at the start of her career, she held the AAGPBL lifetime record for RBIs at 431. She loved playing baseball so much that she not only played all 12 seasons of the League but toured for an additional 3 years after the League was discontinued. Dottie was truly an inspiration to young girls and women around the globe.

Where to Find an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Uniform
Dottie played for 4 different teams during the existence of the League: the South Bend Blue Sox , the Kenosha Comets , the Fort Wayne Daisies, and the Kalamazoo Lassies so you have your choice of uniforms. All uniforms consisted of a matching short-sleeved tunic with a belt and baseball cap. Predictably the Blue Sox "away" uniform was blue while the Comets uniform was brown and both the Daisies and the Lassies uniforms were gold for "away" games. All "home" game uniforms were white. If you have the money, you can purchase any of the AAGPBL team uniforms from this vintage baseball website by clicking here. These uniforms are authentic replicas but they aren't cheap at $225 (tunic, belt and cap). You can also purchase other League items such as baseball caps and jerseys for $25 each and even a 1940s style baseball glove for $55.95.

If you can't afford the high sticker price of an authentic uniform, consider making your own. If you can't sew, try to find a friend or family member who would be willing to do it for you in exchange some small service say freshly baked cookies or weeding the garden. You can get a basic idea of the specific team uniforms by doing a Google image search. Photos from the film A League of Her Own can also provide you with the basic cut and look of the uniforms. Diannethegeek has posted a nice collection of photos featuring the AAGPBL uniforms from the movie here. The Wisconsin Historical Society also has a very good close up of the movie costume. Click here to take a look. Creating the uniform patches poses a bit of challenge so I recommend making an iron-on of the team emblem instead. Office supply stores such as Office Depot sell printer friendly iron-on sheets so you can do it all on your home computer. Then you simply iron it on to your finished uniform to create a snappy official looking team uniform.

Finishing Touches
Once you have made or purchased your team uniform, you still need to add wool (yes, you read that correctly-wool) socks and cleats. Based on official photos, Dottie traditionally wore her hair in braided pigtails so if you don't have long hair consider a wig or hair extensions. Her make-up was light and tasteful.

It's great fun to dress in a sports Halloween costume when you are portraying a great player such as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's Dottie Schroeder. If you are looking a group sports Halloween costume, consider having everyone dress as players from one of her teams.

Resources:

Official Site of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
http://www.aagpbl.org/index.cfm
Accessed on September 20, 2009