[1][2] Born in Maywood, Illinois, Berger and her younger sister, Norma, played baseball and basketball together during their childhood and later played softball in grade school.

[3] Berger entered the league in 1949 with the Chicago Colleens, a rookie touring team which played exhibition games against the Springfield Sallies as they travelled primarily through the South and East.

[4] The next season she was promoted to the Racine Belles, where she was used sparingly as a backup catcher.

The same season, Norma Berger joined the league as a pitcher for the Sallies.

[5] She left the league in 1951 to attend University of Illinois, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees and taught at her alma mater for 19 years.