Madeline Katherine English (February 22, 1925 – August 21, 2004) was a third basewoman who played from 1943 through 1951 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

A three-time All-Star, she helped the Belles win three pennants and two championships in the AAGPBL, by combining a sharp defense, opportune hitting, and a flashy base running.

Her older brother, Edward, was a high school star third baseman who saw his professional baseball dreams truncated by military service during wartime.

Although there were no organized girls interscholastic sports, English began participating in pickup softball games at age ten on Boston area playgrounds.

[3] In 1943, a baseball scout impressed after seeing English play in the 1939 summer exhibitions, invited her to a tryout at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

She was one of the original 60 players in the league, and her team, the Belles, won the first AAGPBL Championship Title in 1943, defeating the Kenosha Comets three games to none.

[1] English tied a league record by stealing seven bases in a 1947 single game, but she also responded in pressure situations.

In 1946, the Racine Belles won the championship in the preliminary best-of-five series over the South Bend Blue Sox, three games to one.

In 1980, former AAGPBL player June Peppas motivated a group of friends and began assembling a list of names and addresses of her former pals.

Starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, Lori Petty and Rosie O'Donnell, this film brought a rejuvenated interest to the women's baseball.

A League of Their Own itself was inspired by the 1987 documentary of the same title, written and produced by Kelly Candaele, one of the five sons of Helen Callaghan, who in 1945 won the AAGPBL batting championship with a .299 average.