Dorothy Elsie Wilkinson was an American softball player and bowler, best known as a softball and bowling royalty who was the first woman admitted to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and regarded as one of the best catchers in the history of women's fast-pitch softball. Wilkinson started playing soft ball at 11 years old, and played professional softball from 1933 to 1965 winning national title in 1940, 1948 and 1949 with the Phoenix Ramblers. She was an All-American nineteen seasons, she retired... moreDorothy Elsie Wilkinson was an American softball player and bowler, best known as a softball and bowling royalty who was the first woman admitted to the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame and regarded as one of the best catchers in the history of women's fast-pitch softball. Wilkinson started playing soft ball at 11 years old, and played professional softball from 1933 to 1965 winning national title in 1940, 1948 and 1949 with the Phoenix Ramblers. She was an All-American nineteen seasons, she retired from softball in 1965. After retiring she started bowling and in 1962, she won the Women's International Bowling Congress Queens Tournament as well as the WIBC national singles title the following year. Wilkinson was named No. 8 in The Republic's list of the greatest Arizona athletes of the 20th century in 1999. She was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame and, the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 1970 and 1975 respectively. She was also the first woman to be honored by the International Bowling Hall of Fame in 1990.
