Women of
the Halls of Fame
Fast Pitch Softball Player
Birthday: August 1, 1940
Hometown: Boca Raton, Florida
Year Inducted: 1983
Position: Pitcher
Joan Joyce is considered by some, one of the greatest female athletes of all time. Not only did she play softball, but she was an excellent basketball player, volleyball player, and she even joined the LPGA after she retired from playing softball. However, her accomplishments in softball are probably the most notable.
When she was little, Joyce would go with her brother and sister to watch their father play softball and basketball, and this led to her natural abilities to play sports. At the young age of 14, Joyce joined the Raybestos Rackettes softball team in Connecticut in 1956. She played with them until 1963, joined the Orange, California Lionettes from 1964 until 1966. In 1967, she rejoined the Brakettes and played with them until 1975 when she retired from softball.
Joyce had quite the career racking up a career record of 750-42 with 150 no-hitters and 33 perfect games. Joyce's career ERA was a mere 0.09 and she quite a few records. She had the most wins and shutouts in one season with 42 and 33, respectively, and in 1968 she pitched a 29 inning game that ended in a 1-0 win. She wasn't always known for her pitching either, she had a career batting average of .327 and set record for most career doubles with 67 and most doubles in a season with 22.
Her honors and awards include being a part of 12 national championship teams and being named an All-American 18 times. She won the MVP for the Women's National Championship eight different times. She was also inducted into the International Softball Federation (ISF) Hall of Fame in 1999, and named the 13th greatest athlete in Connecticut's history by Sports Illustrated (which many argue that she should at least be in the top five).
It is hard to imagine that this is only the beginning of her prowess in athletics. Joyce was a player coach for the Connecticut Clippers of the U.S. Volleyball Association where she competed in four national volleyball tournaments.
Her true love was basketball, although she didn't have as many opportunities in basketball as she did in softball. In 1965, she was a member of the U.S. National Basketball Team. She was chosen as an All-American selection by the Women's Basketball Association and the Amateur Athletic Union, while continuing to set records such as most points scored in a game with 67, which she did in 1964.
Though, Joyce is often known as the women who struck out baseball great Ted Williams and Hank Aaron, she lives her life peacefully and often isn't even recognized. She coaches softball and golf at Florida Atlantic University, and has built the softball team into a powerhouse. After all her accomplishments though, coaching a successful softball team is only one more thing Joyce can add to her list. Her involvement and accomplishments in sports erases any question of the abilties of women to succeed in any sport if she sets her mind to do it.