Her father purchased her first baseball glove when she was the tender age of 5, and she was often found playing in neighborhood baseball games.  In 1950, she joined a junior baseball league.  Although she was the only girl in the league, the Selwyn Park Rebels baseball team of all boys fully accepted her as “one of the guys,” probably because as one local newspaper reported, “she was about the best player in the circuit.”  She drove those boys crazy with her curve ball.

In 1943, during WWII, Wrigley gum baron Phil Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, started a baseball league of women.  The AAGPBL (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League) was created as there just weren’t enough men to play, and he wanted to keep people excited enough about baseball to come to the parks. 

Dolly loved playing baseball, football, and basketball with the boys in her community, so it was no surprise when Jimmy Fox signed her as a young teenager to play for the AAGPBL.  She turned 15 a few days after signing and traveled by train to Chicago to begin her training.  It was her first time away from home, and being the youngest in the league, the older players took her under their wing.  She earned $200 a month plus room and board that first summer, which was commendable, since most men working at home weren’t making that much money.

She played a total of 3 years, two seasons as a relief pitcher for the Fort Wayne Daisies, and then a year as the starting pitcher with the South Bend Blue Sox.  They played up to three games a day in three different cities, and there were days they prayed for rain so they could rest.  When she came home at the end of every summer, she went back to high school where it was interesting to note she couldn’t play baseball for her high school team, because she was considered a professional. 

After the league folded in 1954, Dolly traveled the next few summers barnstorming the country with the All American All-Star Team, a women’s team that played men’s teams.   She moved to the Coulee Region to teach physical education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. After a few years, she moved on to be a program director at the YWCA.  Midwest Security Insurance Company of Onalaska is also on her resume.

The New York Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown proudly displays her name on a plaque with 200 other women who played baseball for the league.  Other superstars of baseball include Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx.

In La Crosse, she has been involved with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, PTA, and even helped to start Bluebird Springs Campgrounds. In 1999, Ozburn was honored as the Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade Marshal.

Dolly’s humble attitude about playing baseball and her obvious fondness for the sport are evident as she enthusiastically tells about her experiences playing ball. “We didn’t think we were making a difference, we were just having fun.”  Women playing ball in the 1940’s was a way to keep the nation’s mind off the war, if only for a few hours on a hot Saturday afternoon.  It brought cheer during a time when many people needed a small distraction to keep their spirits up.  It wasn’t until she was older that Dolly realized the full extent of her services.