In "A League of Their Own" were the characters based on real people?

Question

I know the league exsited and the team exsited but, for example, is there really a Doris Murphy (the character that Rosie o Donnell played)? If so does anyone have any evidence to back this up?

Answer 1

You know, I would think that the movie uses fictional characters to tell the story, even though it's based on actual events. By no means am I a historian, nor do I play one on TV but I wondered the same thing and tried looking up Jimmy Dugan. The character doesn't exist, so I'm thinking that it's the same for the others.

I did some checking by going to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association page, and looked up the names of the main characters in the film. None were in the league between 1943-1954. Referring back to Doris Murphy, the closest name was Leo Murphy (Manager of the Racine Belles 1949)

Answer 2

Yes, they existed.. as a matter of fact, one of the "sisters" was in my mothers nursing home quite awhile back.. I'll see if I can dig up a link. They did fictionalize the story itself, but several of the characters are real.. but for example.. I think they changed some last names.. I think Doris Murphy is supposed to be Doris Sams
http://www.aagpbl.org/articles/biographies.cfm?ID=3

Here's a good one.. has biography of many of the players including some that were in the movie..
http://www.aagpbl.org/articles/biographies.cfm

Answer 3

Yes, some of the characters are real life people. Here's the link w/ details:
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020511.html

& here's a book that might interest you: Gregorich, Barbara (1993). Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball. Harcourt Brace and Company