Frances L. Janssen [″Big Red″, or ″Little Red″] (January 25, 1926 – November 27, 2008) was an American pitcher who played from 1948 through 1952 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 155 lb, she batted and threw right-handed.The tall, red-haired Frances Janssen was a well-travelled pitcher during her five-year career in the AAGPBL, as she moved constantly from one city to another because the league office shifted players to help teams stay competitive. Janssen also was cut twice from the league, but she kept playing for seven different teams without complaint, even if from different periods of time and different stays.
Born in Remington, Indiana, Frances was the daughter of Fred and Anna (née Petersen) Janssen, who emigrated from Germany in the mid-1910s and settled in the farmlands of Indiana. She had a brother, Paul, and four sisters, Betty, Tinie, Wilma and Anna. Almost six feet tall, Frances played basketball and organized softball while attending Gilboa High School. She later received an associate degree in business from South Bend IUPUI and attended International Business College of Fort Wayne. She graduated in 1944 and immediately went to work in an office.By the time, several girls from her local softball team had been scouted and signed by the league. Frances gave it a tryout in 1946 but she did not make the grade. She then insisted again in 1948 and was accepted. After spring training, she was assigned to the South Bend Blue Sox for a couple of days before being sent to the Grand Rapids Chicks. She went 4–4 with a 3.98 earned run average in 11 games and was released after one month of action. I got released because I couldn't throw a curveball, she recalled in an interview.But Janssen did not give up, and accepted a demotion to the Chicago Colleens/Springfield Sallies rookie touring teams to work things out. The Colleens and the Sallies had lost their franchises after their poor performance the previous year. Both teams played exhibition games against each other as they travelled primarily through the South and East, traveling through 20 states and played in 46 cities. We traveled more than 10,000 miles in 1949 from Illinois to Texas, across the Gulf states and up to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she later explained in an interview with Jim Sargent for the Society for American Baseball Research. We played in minor league parks in Tulsa and Baltimore, as well as in city parks, and we drew good crowds.In two of those games, she was asked to switch to the Sallies and serve as playing manager as well as chaperone. She handled both jobs well while also leading her Colleens team in pitching. By the way, she came along fine and hurled two one-hitter shutouts against Springfield at Oklahoma and South Carolina ballparks. She finished the tour with a 16–6 record in 23 pitching appearances. Nevertheless, since the league counted the whole tour as exhibition games, no official statistics were kept.Janssen was promoted to the Peoria Redwings in 1950 and ended up pitching for the Fort Wayne Daisies in the postseason. She went 3–3 with a 3.87 ERA in 19 games for Peoria and Fort Wayne, and pitched 12 innings of shutout ball without a decision in three playoff games, even though the Daisies lost to the Rockford Peaches in the best-of-seven final round.She opened the 1951 season with Fort Wayne and returned to Peoria early in the year, which made her feel like the end of the world, according to her own words. Then she was sent to the Kalamazoo Lassies during the midseason and finished the year with the Battle Creek Belles. Through her lengthy and arduous journey, Jannsen posted a career-best 26 games pitched, only six behind Belles teammate Migdalia Pérez, while also setting career-highs in ERA (2.67), innings pitched (145) and strikeouts (43). She had a very good season overall, although this was not reflected in her 6–10 losing record.Jannsen spent the entire 1952 season with Battle Creek and was used in relief duties, a seldom used role in the league. She appeared in only five games, going 0–1 with a 5.00 ERA in 18 innings of work.Following her baseball days, Janssen played center for the South Bend Rockettes women's basketball team and volleyball with the South Bend Turners for more than a decade. She helped the Rockettes win five national championships and won a national champion title with the Turners. She also was an insurance representative for Laven Insurance Company in South Bend during 25 years and retired in 1991.Besides this, she became an avid golfer and attended AAGPBL Players Association reunions. In addition, she helped the association research information for the league's archives at the Northern Indiana Historical Society, of which she was an active member. The association was largely responsible for the opening of Women in Baseball, a permanent display at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled in 1988 to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.Frances Janssen spent her entire life in her home state of Indiana. After moving from her native Remington to South Bend, she lived in Lafayette, where she died of natural causes in 2008 at the age of 82.
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Some of their strengths
Frances Janssen has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Optimistic, Energetic, Intelligent, Passionate, Selfless, Hardworking, and Courageous.
Idealistic and Altruistic
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Frances Janssen is someone who is an idealist and an altruist who possesses an innovative, intellectual, and analytical mind, and who approaches life in an optimistic and easygoing manner. A person who is charismatic and resourceful.
Strong and Resilient
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Frances Janssen well know them as someone who can be strong, expansive, and stable like a big tree.
Organized and Achievement-oriented
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Frances Janssen as someone who is organized, goal-oriented, practical, and persevering.
Who is hardworking, intellectual, and easygoing, who loves higher education and learning and sharing ideas with others, and who loves healthy competition.
Realistic and Skillful
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Frances Janssen is someone who is able to separate emotions from reality, see the world in terms of right or wrong, and who is very good at getting things done.
They are also someone who is balanced, organized, and in-charge, and who loves traveling, working hard, and figuring out the patterns of things.
Altruistic and Innovative
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Frances Janssen tends to be someone who sacrifices things for the good of others and wants to do "good" in the world. Who is often thought of as an innovator or rebel who thrives when trying to chase a breakthrough of some sort, who has a clear and sound mind, and who can be charming and sociable.
Some of Frances Janssen's challenges
While Frances Janssen has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Frances Janssen can be Rebellious, Emotionally Distant, Hypocritical, Self-centered, Callous, Selfish, and Unemotional.
Rebellious and Emotionally Distant
One of Frances Janssen's key challenges is that they are someone who can be rebellious and emotionally distant.
Callous and Selfish
Frances Janssen is someone who can be standoffish, pessimistic, and ruthless, who can have difficulty concentrating and be impatient, can have difficulty discovering the keys to personal contentment, and who can have a tendency to overwork and hoard wealth and possessions.
Serious and Callous
Finally, Frances Janssen also can be too giving, come across as too "high and mighty", and can have a hard time expressing feelings.
