She first played amateur softball at the age of 14. And then, at 19, came her big break.
Meet Erma "Bergie" Bergmann, a pitcher in the All American Girls Baseball League, made famous in the move "A League of Their Own". Bergmann says it was an experience and a thrill to play in the league. Bergmann appears as one of the real players in the movie. She signed to pitch for the Muskegon Lassies in 1946. Her career includes a no-hitter. The girls league seemed destined as a footnote of history, until the 1992 movie. Bergmann says the movie put the league on the map. She has been surprised by how popular the movie became, amazed that even Europeans know about it.
Bergmann has been inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame . She also is a member of the Amateur Softball Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bergmann says she’s happy with the opportunities now open to girls. Bergie left the league in 1951 to become one of the first female commissioned police officers in St. Louis.