Garvey Stars baseball team Enlarged

Marge Villa Cryan (bottom row, center)
In 1939, at age 13, Villa played for the East Los Angeles girls’ community team, the Garvey Stars. Over the next few years, she played for the semiprofessional Orange Lionettes team in Southern California and was signed to play in the AAGPBL in 1946.

Fluent in Spanish, Marge Villa served as her team’s interpreter on tours in Latin America. She also had parental support in pursuing a baseball career, which was uncommon in many American households at the time.