Who are the Hummers?

The St. Louis Hummers and Women’s Professional Softball

By Sharon Smith (2004-5)

St. Louis has always been known as a great baseball town. But for a few short years, it could have also been called a great softball town. From 1977 through 1979, St. Louis hosted a women’s professional softball team, the St. Louis Hummers. The Hummers were part of the International Women’s Professional Softball Association (IWPSA).

Who are the Hummers?? The Hummers, short for Hummingbirds, joined the IWPSA in 1977. They opened their season on the road and brought the team home to Harrawood sports Complex in Valley Park with a record of 4 and 6.

“Take Interstate 44 to Highway 141 and go north. At the Marshall Road stoplight, turn right at the Tom-Boy store, where there is an arrow pointing the way. At Ninth Street, turn right again and proceed to Hummers Park” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1, 1977). Hummers Park was part of the Harrawood Sports Complex, built by Harrawood Construction Company. Ed Harrawood had whimsically suggested to his two brothers that they build a place for him to play softball. And they did, at a cost of about 1.5 million dollars.

Hummers Park could seat five thousand, and the brothers built three other fields, with plans to add five more diamonds soon after. The complex went up quickly; the brothers bought the fifty acres in September 1976 and opened the complex in April 1977. While the brothers were interested in softball and owning a team, they were more interested in making money. They booked all the fields for both amateur and professional games.

The Hummers opened their first home stand on June 1, 1977, with a 7-5 win over the Bakersfield Aggies before a crowd of 2,700 that would most assuredly have been larger without the early evening shower before the game. Fans also enjoyed pregame festivities to start the season. KCLC-FM covered that game.

Bob Umfleet was one of two male coaches in the league. He commented about his role as Hummers coach: “I walk out there and chew their butts out if I have to. They want to be treated like professionals – like any of the baseball Cardinals whenever they mess up. You have to be harsh with them because they expect it.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 2, 1977).

The Hummers clinched a play-off spot each of the three years they existed. In their first year, they finished in second place with a 43-37 record, seven and a half games behind the champion Falcons. They lost their bid to go to the World Series their first year when the Lionettes bet them. Several Hummers players place in league standings. Patty Guenzler took the batting record with a .398 average and led the league with 96 hits, 24 doubles, and 44 runs scored. She was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Pitcher Margie Wright finished with a 1.82 earned run average, second to Joan Joyce’s 1.03. She finished with 24 wins and 10 losses, 31 complete games, and 8 shutouts. It seems women hurlers went the distance much more often than their major league counterparts. Wright was named Rookie of the Year. In the Hummers’ twenty-five home appearances, they drew a league-leading 48,000 spectators.

Debbie Zoss, shortstop, reflected on the Hummers’ first team. “We started out the season with every possibility of personalities and molded into a super team. I’ve never seen that happen before. We didn’t rely on one or two people. The other teams had to watch out for everybody.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 17, 1977).

Coach Umfleet and owner Gayle Harrawood had high expectations of the 1978 team. St. Louis native Vicki Schneider, coming off an all-star season with the Lionettes, joined the team, filling a gap at shortstop. The Hummers went to the World Series and faced the two-year champion Falcons. Playing in Connecticut, they lost to the Falcons three games to one. St. Louis finished the regular season 55-38. Cindy Henderson was a twenty-one-game winner for the Hummers, and Wright followed with a 19-11 record. Guenzler finished at the top again with a .404 batting average. Bethel Stout finished second on the team with a .315 average, and Schneider finished third with a .304. She also led the team with 53 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases.

The 1979 season was similar to the 1978 season, with the Hummers continuing to put together wins. They stayed near the top of the standings all year. Cindy Henderson pitched 12 shutouts and a perfect game this year. This looked like the year that St. Louis would be hosting a World Series. But the Falcons came back near the end of the season and, with a few contested percentage points, managed to finish ahead of the Hummers and win home field advantage for the series. The Hummers again came in second to the Falcons.

But pitching continued to excel in 1979. Margie Wright pitched a perfect game on July 28 against the New York Golden Apples at a rescheduled game they played at Koch Park, in Florissant. The team posted a twelve-game winning streak in mid-July and had a 32 hit game on June 28 against the Edmonton Snowbirds.

The Hummers did not lack talent. What they lacked was what many of the teams lacked - financial security. The women said they would play for very little because they loved the game. But owners needed money to keep the parks going, and when they couldn’t bring in the sponsors, the league had to fold.

Vicki Schneider recently looked back at her time playing professional softball and comments, “We had an opportunity because other women had a vision.” Many of the women who played those few summers continue to work with young women who have a desire to play softball. Maybe someday the will play professional softball for more than the blink of an eye.