Rosemary Stevenson in 1954, in her Grand Rapids Chicks uniform as a member of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. She will sign and sell books in Pickford this week to raise money for the Pickford Historical Museum. The little-known history of women's softball in the Eastern Upper Peninsula is featured in Rosemary Stevenson's book, "Don't Die on Third." The book is the story of Ms. Stevenson's 52 years of experience in softball and baseball, and autographed copies will be sold during Hay Days Saturday, August 4. Ms. Stevenson, a Stalwart native who now lives in Nunica, was known as "Stevie" in her baseball days. She will sign her book at the Pickford Historical Museum from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. From 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. she will sign books at the Pickford Township Park.

She will donate $5 from the $15 cost of her books to the Historical Museum.

"I'm more interested in helping the museum than just selling the books," Ms. Stevenson said of her motivation to stage the book-signing event. "Let us all help the museum."

Like the cause she is trying to help, Ms. Stevenson's own experience is part of Pickford area history.

In 1943, American sports history was changed by the formation of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, by Philip K. Wrigley of chewing gum fame and owner of the Chicago Cubs. Ms. Stevenson was part of that league, playing outfielder for the Grand Rapids Chicks when she was 17 in 1954.

Thirty-four years later, she found herself part of a group of women inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Induction to the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in Iron Mountain followed. She was inducted there April 7, 1990. She was inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame, along with the entire Grand Rapids Chicks team, in 2001.

The oldest of seven children born to Mary and Samuel Stevenson, she grew up on a 160-acre farm in Stalwart. She started playing softball at age 11 with a team from DeTour. The team played against teams from Cedarville, Pickford, Drummond Island, and Rudyard.

"My interest in softball began on the farm," she recalls in her book. "We'd play neighborhood games in our hay field. Every summer evening after our farm chores were finished, we usually had a ball game until dark."

She and her siblings played with their neighbors, the Johnson family, which had 12 children.

In addition to playing ball, Ms. Stevenson assisted the family with all of the chores included with their full-scale, family farm production and maintenance of livestock, hay, produce, and dairy products.

"I remember one day when my father told me I couldn't go play softball until I got all the hay into the barn," Ms. Stevenson writes in her book. "Let me tell you - there was a lot of hay."

When she was 13, she joined the Soo Michigan Lockette team (formerly Soo Chicks), which played in the Canadian League in Ontario, across the St. Marys River. She was playing with the team in the spring of 1954 when she was reading the new softball rule book and saw a professional women's baseball league advertisement.

"Just the thought of playing in the league resulted in me having dreams about the league and what it would be like to play there," she wrote.

She inquired about the league and the league wrote back, inviting her to try out in Battle Creek. Her coach and mentor, Jack LaPointe of DeTour, said he would take her downstate and pay her expenses for the three-day tryout.

"It was the first time I was away from upper Michigan," she said.

She was one of 106 girls from the Midwest who tried out, and one of six who were chosen for the team. She joined the Grand Rapids Chicks and, to her delight, was assigned the number three, "the same as Babe Ruth," she said.

Ms. Stevenson played a year with the Chicks until the professional women's baseball league was dissolved in 1954, 11 years after it was started during World War II to fill the void left by professional men's baseball, when many of its players went to war. By the 1950s, the war was over, male players returned to the fields, and Americans started losing interest in women's baseball.

Ms. Stevenson was grateful for her experience, and believes there are not enough opportunities today for women to pursue professional careers in baseball. In addition to her permanent status in three halls of fame, she is featured on her own baseball card and in several promotional photographs, and was one of several former All American Girls Professional Baseball League players involved with the 1992 film, "A League of Their Own."

She returned to the Upper Peninsula briefly, and could only find work as a waitress, so she went back to the Grand Rapids area. She remained in the area, eventually working for several years for Michigan Bell Telephone Company, and playing softball, teaching catechism at her Catholic church, and coaching.

The title of her book comes from Coach Jack LaPointe's advice to her about making it around all the bases: "Don't die on third. You must get home."