Terry Donahue (baseball)

{{short description|Canadian professional baseball player and accountant (1925–2019)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| birth_name = Theresa Paz Donahue

| name = Terry Donahue

| image =Terry Donahue (baseball).jpeg

| image_size =

| caption =

| team = All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

| position = Catcher

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|8|22}}

| birth_place = Saskatchewan, Canada

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|3|14|1925|8|22|mf=y}}

| death_place = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

| debutyear = {{baseball year|1946}}

| finalyear = {{baseball year|1949}}

| teams =

Peoria Redwings

|highlights=

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (1998)
Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame (1998)

}}

Theresa Paz Donahue (August 22, 1925 – March 14, 2019) was a Canadian utility player in women's baseball, playing mainly as a catcher for the Peoria Redwings of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from {{baseball year|1946}} through {{baseball year|1949}}. Listed at 5' 2", 125 lb., she batted and threw right-handed.

{{Cite web

| author = AAGPBL Staff

| title = Terry Donahue

| work = All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

| year = 2024

| url = http://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/terry-donahue/363

| access-date = September 14, 2024

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190124004439/http://aagpbl.org/profiles/terry-donahue/363

| archive-date = January 24, 2019

| url-status = live

}}

Biography

Donahue was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, of Irish ancestry. As a young girl she learned to play baseball with the help of her brother in their family farm, and later played softball at school and in Moose Jaw for the local Royals team. In 1945 Donahue was invited by an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League scout to spring training the next year in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She agreed to try out and was assigned to the Redwings, an expansion team based in Peoria, Illinois.

{{Cite web

| author = AAGPBL Staff

| title = AAGPBL Interview - Terry Donahue

| work = All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

| year = 2006

| url = http://thediamondangle.com/archive/jan04/donahue.html

| access-date = September 14, 2024

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120718190300/

| archive-date = July 18, 2012

| url-status = dead

}} During her four seasons in the league, Donahue was primarily a catcher, but played every position except first base and pitcher. She hit .127 in 287 games, and committed 56 errors in 1051 chances for a .947 fielding average.

{{Cite book

| last1 = Madden

| first1 = W.C.

| title = The Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: A Biographical Dictionary

| publisher = McFarland & Company

| location = Jefferson, North Carolina

| page = 69

| year = 1997

| isbn = 9780786403042

| url = https://archive.org/details/womenofallameric0000madd/page/68/mode/2up?q=Terry+Donahue

| via = Internet Archive

}}

In 1950 Donahue joined the Admiral Music Maids of the rival National Girls Baseball League in Chicago. After that, she worked for an interior design firm in Chicago in accounting and bookkeeping for 38 years, and then retired in 1990.

{{Cite book

| editor-last1 = Heaphy

| editor-first1 = Leslie A.

| editor-last2 = May

| editor-first2 = Mel Anthony

| title = Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball

| publisher = McFarland & Company

| location = Jefferson, North Carolina

| page = 94

| year = 2006

| isbn = 9780786421008

| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786421008/page/94/mode/2up?view=theater&q=Terry+Donahue

| via = Internet Archive

}} A longtime resident of St. Charles, Illinois, Donahue carried out her Grand Marshal duties during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2009. She was honored with many recognitions and awards over the years, including inductions in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

{{Cite news

| last1 = Rhodebeck

| first1 = Ashley

| title = Baseball legends to lead St. Patrick's Day Parade

| work = Kane County Chronicle

| publisher = Shaw Media

| location = St. Charles, Illinois

| date = March 10, 2010

| url = http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2010/03/10/18629555/index.xml

| access-date = September 14, 2024

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100314061749/http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2010/03/10/18629555/index.xml

| archive-date = March 14, 2010

| url-status = dead }}

{{Cite web

| title = Terry Donahue/ Baseball

| work = Women's Sports Foundation

| location = East Meadow, New York

| date = September 1, 2008

| url = http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Athletes/D/Donahue-Terry.aspx

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100620084337/http://womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Athletes/D/Donahue-Terry.aspx

| archive-date = 20 June 2010

| url-status = dead

}} She died in March 2019 at the age of 93 after suffering from Parkinson's disease.

{{Cite web

| last1 = Gazdziak

| first1 = Sam

| title = Obituary: Terry Donahue (1925-2019)

| work = RIP Baseball

| date = March 17, 2019

| url = https://ripbaseball.com/2019/03/17/obituary-terry-donahue-1925-2019/

| access-date = March 18, 2019

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200429042817/https://ripbaseball.com/2019/03/17/obituary-terry-donahue-1925-2019/

| archive-date = April 29, 2020

| url-status = live

}}

In 2020, Netflix released a documentary, A Secret Love, that chronicles Donahue's 72-year relationship with Emma Marie "Pat" Henschel. The couple married on Donahue's birthday in 2015.

{{Cite news

| last = Swartz

| first = Tracy

| title = She helped inspire 'A League of Their Own.' Now a former Chicagoan's secret gay relationship is the subject of a new Netflix doc

| work = Chicago Tribune

| publisher = Tribune Publishing

| issn = 2165-171X

| date = 27 April 2020

| url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-netflix-a-secret-love-terry-donahue-pat-henschel-20200427-tv6n442k7fanpipbvqm7oh3pxm-story.html

| access-date = 13 September 2024

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200428052738/https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-netflix-a-secret-love-terry-donahue-pat-henschel-20200427-tv6n442k7fanpipbvqm7oh3pxm-story.html

| archive-date = 28 April 2020

| url-status = live

}}