Ogema, Saskatchewan’s Arleene Noga was a player, coach, mentor and ambassador of the game of baseball for most of her life and now, a Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer.
She was by all accounts, one of the best baseball players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League leaving her Senior A. team in Regina, Sask. to join the Fort Wayne Daisies of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in 1945. She appeared in just 15 games for the Daisies before she was acquired in a trade by the Muskegon Lassies where she’d cement her legacy. Noga set a record for fielding percentage by a third baseman (.942) en route to a pennant-winning performance in 1947. Dubbed “The Iron Lady” for a streak that included more than 300 consecutive games played, she sits eighth in games played by a Canadian, ninth in at-bats (1,119), RBIs (91), stolen bases (123), and 10th in hits (183) and runs (103).
After her AAGPBL career ended, Noga returned to Regina where she coached and played softball for three decades. She led teams to nine provincial championships and five Western Canadian Championships. She served on the board of directors for the AAGPBL.
If the AAGPBL sounds familiar, it should. In 1992, Noga served as an advisor for “A League of Their Own” starring (among others) Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell. Noga taught O’Donnell how to play shortstop and the “material girl” how to slide. Noga and former teammate Mary “Bonnie” Baker were also featured on television in a Canadian Heritage Minute.
Arleene Noga was inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in October of 2004. She died on March 14, 2017.
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on June 7, 2025 in St. Mary’s, Ont.
