Sports: Baseball, Softball & Basketball
Born: May 1, 1923
Died: April 25, 1997
Town: North Plainfield, New Jersey
Catherine Elizabeth Blumetta was born May 1, 1923 in North Plainfield, NJ. Kay’s parents, Jim and Edna, encouraged her to compete in a variety of sports, including softball, basketball and tennis. As a schoolgirl in the mid-1930s, she was already winning local sprint competitions. The Blumetta (originally Blumetti) family had roots in Italy; Kay’s paternal grandparents both arrived in the US in the 1800s. Her father managed a Plainfield ice delivery company and her mother worked in a department store.
At 16, Kay became the star of the girls’ softball team sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), pitching and batting cleanup for the regional powerhouse, which gave Toots Nusse and the vaunted Linden Arians a run for their money in several meetings. Kay later played for the Arians.
In July of 1939, Kay made headlines when she twirled a one-hit shutout against Iselin. A gifted all-around player, she usually played shortstop when not pitching. In the early 1940s, she became a high-scoring guard for the IBEW’s semipro hoops squad.
While attending North Plainfield High School, Kay worked for Cornell-Dubilier, an electronics company.
In 1943, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed in the Midwest. League scouts scoured the nation for talent, and Kay got on their radar while playing softball for the Brooklyn Celtics.
Shortly after her 21st birthday, Kay attended the 1944 AAGPBL tryouts and made the roster of the Minneapolis Millerettes, who played in the city’s American Association ballpark. She played first base and the outfield for several weeks before being sent to the Milwaukee Chicks, where she helped manager Max Carey’s club go 40–19 in the second half and reach the league finals. Among her teammates were fellow New Jerseyan Teeny Petras.
Unfortunately, the Chicks didn’t draw flies and were unable to host any home games in their 1944 championship series against the Kenosha Comets, which the Chicks actually won. The club moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1945.
Kay played one year for the Chicks before joining the expansion Peoria Redwings, who finished last in 1946. She split the 1947 season between the Redwings and Fort Wayne Daisies. In her first full season with the Daisies, Kay went 14–13 and helped the club make the playoffs. In 1950, Kay was on the move again, joining the Kalamazoo Lassies. She played five seasons for the club, including the final year of the AAGPBL in 1954. That season, the Lassies won the championship. Their stars included Carol Habben and Dottie Schroeder, the only player to appear in all 12 AAGPBL seasons.
Kay herself was one of just four players to suit up for 10 seasons. In all, she appeared in 303 games, mostly as a pitcher. Starting in 1946, Kay was a member of her team’s starting rotation every year until the league folded. She used a whiplike sidearm delivery to strike out 100-plus batters each season from 1946 to 1949. She threw three pitches for strikes—a fastball, curve and knuckleball. The only year Kay had an ERA over 3.00 as a starter was in her final season.
During the off-seasons, Kay returned to her home in New Jersey and played semipro basketball. Women’s teams often played the front of doubleheaders featuring men’s teams. She starred for several seasons for the West End Wolverines and Irvington Amazons. Her nickname, “Swish,” came from her sharpshooting, not her pitching.
After baseball, Kay lived with he parents and continued to work various factory jobs. The Blumettas were happy to have their daughter at home; Edna used to weep every spring when Kay left for baseball. After they passed, Kay moved into a one-bedroom apartment chock full of memorabilia from her career as a baseball, softball and basketball star. Among the lifelong friends she made in the AAGPBL were fellow New Jerseyans Jane Moffet, Jean Ventura and Joan Berger.
In 1996, Kay was inducted into the North Plainfield High School Hall of Fame. She passed away a year later at the age of 73.