03/09/2023
In Her Own League...The small hamlet of Kabetogama first met Julie Gutz in 1955 as new proprietor of the Pine Ridge Inn, a tiny grocery store/lunch counter/“three-two” beer joint, and seeker of fishing holes. In following years, the residents of Kabetogama knew Julie as owner-builder of Cedar Cove Campsites in summer, electronic technician for Honeywell in winter, and upon retirement, year-round inhabitant.
Then in November 1988, the Kabetogama community learned they had a celebrity in their ranks when the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY listed Julie Gutz as a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). She was flown to the movie set of “A League of Their Own” as consultant and Julie’s place in history was no longer a quiet memory.
Even in her grade school years in Storm Lake, Iowa, Julie Kathleen Gutz could hit the ball over the fence. At 18, she headed to Chicago to try out for the AAGPBL and was hustled off to Pascagoula, Mississippi to play for the Springfield Sallies. Nicknamed “Gutzie,” she was an award-winning catcher for the Kenosha Comets, graced several other teams, and ended her six-year professional career playing in a winter league with the Miami Maids.
How Julie Gutz found Kabetogama in 1955 is an untold part of her story.
Photo credit: NPS Park Collections/Julie Gutz
