Former Kalamazoo Lassies Player Helen “Tex” Snyder Dies at 90

"Today, there is crying in baseball."

Before A League of Their Own became a beloved movie, there were real women stepping up to bat and making history. Thanks to pioneering women like former Kalamazoo Lassies player Helen “Tex” Y’Barbo, a new generation of women is playing professional baseball today, with the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) having just wrapped up its inaugural regular season and heading into the playoffs.

Get our free mobile app

Helen “Tex” Y’Barbo Snyder. November 22, 1935 – September 5, 2026

Of the hundreds of players who helped make the historic All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) famous, only about two dozen remain today. Sadly, on Monday, September 14 the AAGPBL Players Association shared news that becomes harder to hear with each passing year: another one of these remarkable women has passed away.

Tex, thank you. Your place in the story of women’s baseball will never be forgotten. Once a player, always a player. Forever a part of the AAGPBL family. Today, there is crying in baseball. -- All American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association via Facebook

Helen was born and raised in Texas, but eventually moved up to Ohio to live with her sister. In 1954 at age 17 she tried out for, and was awarded, one of only ten open spots to become a member of the South Bend Blue Sox. Later that season, “Tex” was traded to the Kalamazoo Lassies, who went on to win the league championship. It would be the final season of the AAGPBL, making Helen’s brief professional career part of the league’s final chapter.

According to her obituary, after the 1954 season concluded Helen began what would become a 37 year career at Packard Electric Division of General Motors; she also continued playing softball, bocce ball, and golf.

Today, I am wearing my Kalamazoo Lassies shirt for Tex! Funnily enough, my Battle Creek Belles shirt was just delivered today too. They've got the whole AAGPBL line for sale online at Homage.com, and it's my goal to collect them all! At least all the Michigan teams, anyway.

Learn more about the women of the AAGPBL here, and get ready to meet former players in person at the 2027 AAGPBL Players Association Reunion, which was just announced for June 2027 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Championship Series Bobbleheads

Seeing as the league started in 1943, each Bobblehead is individually numbered to 1943 and they are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum‘s online store.