Donald Raymond Ross (July 16, 1914 – March 28, 1996) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Dodgers, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Early years

Ross was born in 1914 in Pasadena, California, and attended Pasadena City College.

Professional baseball

Ross began playing professional baseball in 1933 with Shreveport in the Dixie League. He advanced to Beaumont in the Texas League in 1934 and 1935. He split the 1936 season between Beaumont, Buffalo, and Toronto. He remained with Toronto in 1937. He made his major league debut with the Tigers on April 19, 1938. He replaced

Marv Owen Marvin James Owen (March 22, 1906 – June 22, 1991) was an American baseball player, manager, coach and scout. A native of northern California, Owen played both baseball and football at Santa Clara University. He made his Major League Baseb ...

as the Tigers' third baseman. He was the team's starting third baseman for 73 games in 1938. In 632 innings played, he compiled a .946 fielding percentage with 90 putouts, 157 assists, 14 errors, and 15 double plays in 261 chances. On September 14, 1938, the Brooklyn Dodgers purchased Ross and

Ray Hayworth Raymond Hall Hayworth (January 29, 1904 – September 25, 2002) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as a member of the Detroit Tigers team ...

from the Tigers. He played only 10 games for Brooklyn and not until the 1940 season. He appeared in 388 games for the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; p ...

, mostly at third base, during the 1939, 1940, and 1941 seasons. At the end of the 1941 season, the Tigers reclaimed Ross in the Rule 5 draft. He was converted into an outfielder in his second stint with the Tigers. He was used principally as a right fielder, starting 31 games at the position in 1942, 31 in 1943, and 35 in 1944. On April 29, 1945, the Tigers traded Ross and Dutch Meyer to the

in exchange for Roy Cullenbine. He appeared in 161 games with Cleveland during the 1945 and 1946 seasons, including 138 games as the Indians' starting third baseman. During his time with Cleveland, he compiled a 264 batting average and .340 on-base percentage. He appeared in his last major league game on September 22, 1946. Ross played for the Hollywood Stars in the Pacific Coast League during the 1947 and 1948 seasons. He appeared in 245 games at third base for the Stars. He concluded his playing career playing for the San Antonio Missions and

Greensboro Patriots Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

during the 1949 season. Ross played in 498 major league games, 261 as a third baseman, 115 as an

, 20 as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

and 7 as a second baseman. Ross had a career batting average of .262 and an on-base percentage of .338. He had 390 career hits, 129 runs scored, 162 RBIs, 166 bases on balls, and 79 extra-base hits.

Later years

Ross died in 1996 at age 81 in Arcadia, California. He was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in

Montebello, California Montebello (Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an independent city. east of downtown Los Angeles. It ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Don 1914 births 1996 deaths Detroit Tigers players Brooklyn Dodgers players Cleveland Indians players Baseball players from California Major League Baseball third basemen Shreveport Sports players Beaumont Exporters players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Montreal Royals players Hollywood Stars players San Antonio Missions players Greensboro Patriots players