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Gloucester writer working with women’s baseball pioneer

A baseball legend stopped off in Gloucester last Thursday to spend the day with county resident Doug Williams.

Dolly Niemiec Konwinski, who played for the Grand Rapids Chicks from 1949 to 1952, spent the day with the local author. She also played a part in the popular film, "A League of Their Own," and is having Williams write a book telling her life story.

Konwinski said her passion for the sport came from her dad placing a baseball bat in her hands at a very young age. "I don’t know if I was still in the hospital or not," she joked, when she first held a bat.

She remembers playing with her dad, who she said was a very good softball player, and she quickly earned the nickname, "Dolly Gopher." She said her dad would say, "Go for this ball. Go for that ball."

"He was my teacher, my instructor, my best friend," Konwinski added.

She soon started playing baseball with the boys in her Chicago neighborhood. "Their sisters had the most beautiful dolls," she said. "I had t...

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