My mom, Helen Callaghan — Geena Davis’ character Dottie Hinson was loosely based on her — was the AAGPBL batting champion in 1945. She didn’t keep much memorabilia from her playing days, but she did have a worn-out leather glove that she liked to use whenever we played catch together when I was young. I took her to see Marshall’s film when it came out in the summer of 1992, not long before she died of cancer. She loved it and felt that Penny had “got it right.” But she added that she would never drop a ball on purpose — not for anyone — as Dottie does in the movie’s big-game climatic scene. It would have been a betrayal of her teammates.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 19, 2018 19:33 UTC