Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson

Dorothy Elsie Wilkinson (October 9, 1921 – March 18, 2023) was an American softball player and bowler, who is a member of the halls of fame in both sports.<ref name="asa_hof"/><ref name="wibc"/>

Life and careerEdit

Wilkinson played softball from 1933 to 1965, helping her team, the Phoenix Ramblers, to the national title in 1940,<ref name="brakettes_champ_list"/><ref name="dimitry">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 1948,<ref name="dimitry"/><ref name="ellensburg_daily_record">Template:Cite news</ref> and 1949.<ref name="brakettes_champ_list">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="dimitry"/> She was an All-American nineteen seasons as an amateur softball player.<ref name="si">Template:Cite news</ref> Among her feats, she batted an average of .455 in 1954, .450 in 1955, and .387 on the Ramblers championship runner up year of 1957.<ref name="brakettes_champ_list"/><ref name="dimitry"/>

As a professional bowler, she won the Women's International Bowling Queen's Tournament (a bowling triple crown event) in 1962, and the WIBC singles in 1963.<ref name="tyers">Template:Cite news</ref>

Wilkinson was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1970, her first year of eligibility.<ref name="asa_hof">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was inducted into the International Bowling Hall of Fame twenty years later, in 1990.<ref name="wibc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="bowling_hof">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Wilkinson occasionally attended high school, college and tournament softball games in Arizona, where she and some of her former teammates were honored frequently. The Arizona Republic newspaper chose her at number eight among Arizona's all-time greatest athletes in 1999.<ref name="metcalfe">Template:Cite news</ref>

As of April 2020, Wilkinson was the oldest living member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.<ref>98-year-old softball Hall of Famer Dot Wilkinson staying safe during pandemic</ref> She turned 100 in October 2021,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and died in Phoenix on March 18, 2023, at the age of 101.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

HonoursEdit

Association Year results
National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum 1970 Template:Honoured
International Bowling Hall of Fame 1990 Template:Honoured
Arizona Sports Hall of Fame 1975 Template:Honoured

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Further readingEdit

  • Ames, Lynn Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story (Chicago Review Press, 2023)
  • Purcell, Laura A. The Queens and the Ramblers: Women's Championship Softball in Phoenix, 1932–1965 (Arizona State University: Dissertation)