Reviews

Kammie on First: Baseball's Dottie Kamenshek by Michelle Houts

nerfherder86's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent biography of a famous female ballplayer. First in new series of juvenile biographies by Ohio University Press. Kammie (at one point in 1946 there were five Dorothys on her team, so they all had different nicknames!) was the best player in the All-American Girls Baseball League, on the Rockford Peaches. She started at age 17. The character of "Dottie Henson" in the movie A League of Their Own was partly based on Kammie, and with the release of the film Kammie got a second period of fame in her life. Book is thoroughly researched, has interview sources, bibliography, notes for all of the quotations. Nice black and white photos as well as illustrations of programs and posters from the period. Chapter titles are clever, "First Inning," to "Postgame," etc.

erine's review against another edition

4.0

Honestly, growing up with A League of Their Own I was interested in this biography largely on the power of Gina Davis' portrayal of Dottie Hinson. But the story ended up being fascinating. Dottie Kamenshek was the only child of immigrant parents and with a combination of being in the right place at the right time and having the right talent, made a very successful life out of being a baseball player (and later, a physical therapist). I wish more detail was available about her later life; there's no indication that she was ever romantically involved with anyone, nor had children, but she certainly led a rich life on her own.

Houts firmly places Dottie in context as well, referencing how the Great Depression and World War II combined to create the required atmosphere for women's baseball to exist.

A great story about an amazing woman. I only wish it was longer!