Tubby Johnston played for the King's Dairy Team in Corning, N.Y., in the summer of 1950.

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"I first tried out for Little League with my younger brother, Tommy, for the King's Dairy team in Corning, N.Y. I cut my hair short and tucked the rest under my baseball cap. I gave the impression that I was a boy so that I could play baseball. I used the nickname "Tubby", a character from my favorite comic strip, "Little Lulu".

 

"My father always took me out, and we would play. He'd throw the ball and I would bat. My father told me that I was pretty good so I went out for the team. My brother didn't think I'd make the team, but I was better than him. Once I was on the team, I talked to the coach in the dugout and told him that I was a girl. He said, "Well, if you're good enough to make the team, you're good enough to stay on the team."
 

In fact, I was a drawing card for the King's Dairy team, because once they found out that I was a girl, more people came out to see the games. This made little difference to me as I just wanted to play baseball." 

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                                               Kathryn "Tubby" Johnston Massar