Merle Patricia Keagle (March 21, 1923 – November 12, 1960) was an American center fielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League between the 1944 and 1948 seasons.

[1][3] The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League operated between 1943 and 1954 and started with four teams: the Racine Belles and the Kenosha Comets, both from Wisconsin; the Rockford Peaches from Illinois, and the South Bend Blue Sox from Indiana.

At an early age, the young girl became accustomed to participate in typical boyish activities, from climbing trees to tossing a frisbee or playing sandlot ball.

Merle started to play organized softball at the age of fifteen, and graduated from Tolleson Union High School in 1941.

Merle attended a tryout arranged by Allington, who would join the league for the upcoming season as manager of the Rockford team.

The rest of the way she was almost unstoppable, ending with a .264 batting average in 109 games, and pace the league with seven home runs, 145 total bases and 19 extrabases.

Although originally nicknamed Pat by her teammates, she eventually was dubbed the Blonde Bombshell by the Chicks fanatics, becoming one of the most beloved players in the team along with Alice Haylett, Inez Voyce, Connie Wisniewski and Alma Ziegler.

In 1948 she reported to the AAGPBL spring training camp at Opa-locka, Florida, showing her smiling face and carrying an extra 10 pounds.

[1][5][13] Twenty eight years after her death, Merle Keagle became part of the AAGPBL permanent display inaugurated at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York, which is dedicated to the entire league rather than any individual player.