The Time Capsule: Alice “the Girl Wonder” in Red Oak
Last summer, at a high school softball/baseball doubleheader, we saw an outfielder make a running catch of a sinking line drive. She received enthusiastic cheers, and I heard a fan shout that she was better than most on the boys’ team.
The remark reminded me of a conversation a couple years ago with Loren King. King, born on a farm near Villisca, watched a lot of baseball. His older brother, Lynn, became starting center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Another brother, Don, pitched for several years in the minor leagues, advancing to Triple A. If an outfielder impressed Loren King, she was probably good. If she started on a boys’ baseball team in the 1920s, she deserves a column.
At the time we talked, Loren couldn’t remember her name. I put this on my list of things to look up, and there it stayed until a few months ago. When I read that King, at the age of 100, had passed away I thought of the girl baseball player and did some digging.
She was all King had remembered and more.
When Alice Buckman trotted to right field on the Red Oak diamond the afternoon of July 20, 1930, an unusually large crowd rose to applaud. Alice sold tickets, always made news and on that day, was nearing the end of her baseball career.
The 1930 game was with the Griswold Cubs, the town team, and fans got their money’s worth. Griswold went up early but the Red Oak Legionnaires rallied in the eighth, then brought home another runner in the last of the ninth to win 6-5. Alice, playing right field for the Cubs, walked and scored a run, grounded out to second and struck out. She had one chance in the outfield, with a news article telling us she made a fine running catch of a long fly ball.
Her next game was in Corning, and while there she agreed to play for the Corning club the following weekend in Council Bluffs.
Reimbursing out-of-town players was common, and if Buckman received a financial incentive, she was worth it. The game, played at Broadway Field (Playland Park) on west Broadway, drew what newspapers called one of the biggest crowds of the season. Many bought a ticket just to see Buckman. Council Bluffs won 11-5, with Alice going hitless. She performed well on defense, but against a hard-throwing right-hander, struck out three times.
This, as far as I can determine, was her last game in organized baseball. She did not do well against semi-pro pitching and put away the spikes.
Hardly anyone today remembers her name, but for two years there wasn’t a bigger sports story in southwest Iowa.
In 1928, as a 15-year-old junior, she made the Griswold High School starting lineup. This would be unusual today. In 1928, it was unheard of, and soon made her famous. Her picture was in newspapers on both coasts, she was featured in pre-movie newsreels and sports magazines sent reporters to rural Iowa to see the only girl in the country to start on a boys’ high school team. She was invited to Omaha, where she threw the first pitch to mark the opening of the Western League season.
Newspaper ads billed her as “The Girl Wonder.” There were those, however, who felt she was on the field for the wrong reasons. School administrators were publicly accused of trying to exploit her to sell tickets, of assessing a “gate value” for her appearance.
While there may have been some truth in that, Buckman could play. She was fast, her coach said she worked hard, outplayed several boys who tried out and earned her spot in the starting line-up. In her much-anticipated first game—a 13-1 loss to Oakland—she was hitless but drew a walk and played flawlessly in the field. Slightly built, with a good eye, she had a small strike zone and once on base, was a threat to steal. In a rematch with Oakland she was perfect at the plate, collecting three singles and a walk.
She improved in her senior year, better at bat and in the field, and after high school had a few good games with town teams. While Buckman was a reliable player, she had no illusions. When one of the ever-present reporters asked if she hoped to play in the Major Leagues, she politely replied that she’d never be that good. She added she was also a lady, and a lady would not share the dugout with men who chewed tobacco.
She left baseball, furthered her education, became Dr. Alice Buckman and moved to Waco, Texas.
If there are relatives or those who knew her still around, I’d enjoy hearing from them.
Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com.