ICON | Alice Marble


Photo of actress Carole Lombard and tennis pro Alice Marble via Historiful.

As a young child, Marble was always interested in sports, especially baseball. She wrote in her memoir that she and her brother Tim attended SF Seals games, going early “so we could play catch in the bleachers before the game.” Thinking Marble was a boy, a player one day asked her to play catch with him. “I kept expecting someone to tell me to leave,” Marble wrote. “Instead, my hero, Lefty O’Doul, asked me to shag flies for him. Joe DiMaggio, beside me in center field, yelled encouragement.” Before long, local newspapers printed stories about the new “Seals mascot,” and a San Francisco Examiner sportswriter dubbed Marble the “Little Queen of Swat.” —Lorri Ungaretti, A Remarkable Life: Alice Marble

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great photo of Carole Lombard. I've never seen that one before. Thanks!
Carrie Schwartz said…
Love this! Queen of Swat!!
Jessica said…
awesome. this makes me want to do a tennis court photo shoot!
Anonymous said…
AND she was a spy in WWII and supported Althea Gibson's bid to play tennis. NEAT.
sara.ann said…
what a great story...added her memoir to my reading list.
-Sara
Anonymous said…
you spelled the "style" in style mint wrong in your promo banner at the bottom!
Lizzie said…
ack! thank you so much for pointing that out!! fixed.

Popular Posts