2008 Woodie Awards
Webster alumna winds up in Baseball Hall of Fame
By: Matt Grover
Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Sports
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Perabo manned the bench the first few games of the season. She didn't mind. She was too busy living a dream.
"Everything I did I was happy doing it," Perabo said. "Every day I went to practice I was happy to go. I tried to appreciate it and suck every bit of out of it because I knew it was important and something that would be with me the rest of my life."
Her first taste of action came when then Head Coach Karl Karlskint tabbed Perabo as a defensive replacement at second base for the final two innings of a game Webster was winning comfortably. Later in the season, Perabo struck out in her first at-bat.
On the last day of the season, Perabo made her first - and only - start for the Gorloks. She was flawless defensively, making a backhanded grab on a hard hit grounder and then throwing the runner out at first. She finished the season with a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
However, Perabo wasn't as fortunate at the plate. In the last game, she hit a bullet up the middle only to have the pitcher snatch it. That was as close as she would come to getting a hit all season - or in her baseball career.
The Gorloks finished the season 6-6; Perabo had a batting average of .000.
Perabo flirted with the idea of joining the team in 1988, but people by then had become aware of the team and cracking the roster would prove to be more difficult. Perabo left the Gorlok baseball team after one season. She still has regrets about that decision.
"Sometimes I wish that I tried to come back and play another season, even though I wasn't good enough to be an everyday player or even good enough to be on the bench," she said.
While Perabo's career as a baseball player was brief, it was more than just a footnote in Webster's record books.
Several years ago, her parents were visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., when they stumbled across an exhibit dedicated to women's baseball. Then, they noticed a plaque.
"The 1980s saw women make the rosters and, eventually, the starting lineups of men's college baseball teams," the plaque read. "In 1987, Susan Perabo appeared at second base in a handful of games for Webster University, an NCAA Division III School in St. Louis."
Perabo's parents called and told her about their discovery. Despite playing one year in a supporting role and contributing no hits, Perabo had made the Hall of Fame.
"It's pretty cool, and very unexpected," Perabo said.
Today, Perabo is an English professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. She seldom keeps in contact with her former teammates or coaches, but remains an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. And while she no longer plays baseball, Perabo has found a new way to be part of the game: coaching. She is currently preparing to coach her son Brady's T-ball team.
"I'm way more excited about it than any of the kids are," Perabo said.
"Everything I did I was happy doing it," Perabo said. "Every day I went to practice I was happy to go. I tried to appreciate it and suck every bit of out of it because I knew it was important and something that would be with me the rest of my life."
Her first taste of action came when then Head Coach Karl Karlskint tabbed Perabo as a defensive replacement at second base for the final two innings of a game Webster was winning comfortably. Later in the season, Perabo struck out in her first at-bat.
On the last day of the season, Perabo made her first - and only - start for the Gorloks. She was flawless defensively, making a backhanded grab on a hard hit grounder and then throwing the runner out at first. She finished the season with a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.
However, Perabo wasn't as fortunate at the plate. In the last game, she hit a bullet up the middle only to have the pitcher snatch it. That was as close as she would come to getting a hit all season - or in her baseball career.
The Gorloks finished the season 6-6; Perabo had a batting average of .000.
Perabo flirted with the idea of joining the team in 1988, but people by then had become aware of the team and cracking the roster would prove to be more difficult. Perabo left the Gorlok baseball team after one season. She still has regrets about that decision.
"Sometimes I wish that I tried to come back and play another season, even though I wasn't good enough to be an everyday player or even good enough to be on the bench," she said.
While Perabo's career as a baseball player was brief, it was more than just a footnote in Webster's record books.
Several years ago, her parents were visiting the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., when they stumbled across an exhibit dedicated to women's baseball. Then, they noticed a plaque.
"The 1980s saw women make the rosters and, eventually, the starting lineups of men's college baseball teams," the plaque read. "In 1987, Susan Perabo appeared at second base in a handful of games for Webster University, an NCAA Division III School in St. Louis."
Perabo's parents called and told her about their discovery. Despite playing one year in a supporting role and contributing no hits, Perabo had made the Hall of Fame.
"It's pretty cool, and very unexpected," Perabo said.
Today, Perabo is an English professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. She seldom keeps in contact with her former teammates or coaches, but remains an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. And while she no longer plays baseball, Perabo has found a new way to be part of the game: coaching. She is currently preparing to coach her son Brady's T-ball team.
"I'm way more excited about it than any of the kids are," Perabo said.
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