Lucella MacLean

oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

(January 3, 1921 – June 25, 2012) was a former

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

who played from through in the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

. She batted and threw right handed. A native of

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...

, MacLean was one of the sixty eight girls from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

who played in the AAGPBL during its 12-year history. She also was one of the sixty original players in the inaugural season of the league. MacLean was the fourth of nine children born to Anna and John Angus MacLean. She graduated from Lloydminster High School in 1940. She started to play with the Lloydminster nationals' senior team, who won the Ester Trophy in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

from 1937 to 1940. In that year, she joined the Saskatoon Pats and helped her team to the Provincial Hunking Trophy in 1941. When MacLean was not playing she worked as a telephone clerk until 1943. The AAGPBL was introduced in the spring of 1943. MacLean was located to the Blue Sox, playing for them two seasons as a backup for

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Bonnie Baker. She also saw action at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, appearing in 101 games while hitting a .204

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

with 25

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. In addition, she started the first

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

in AAGPBL history.Encyclopedia of Women and Baseball In 1945 MacLean returned to Canada to catch for the Army and Navy Pats of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. She later spent seven years in the

National Girls Baseball League The National Girls Baseball League (NGBL) was a professional women's baseball league which existed from 1944 to 1954, with teams based in Chicago, Illinois. The National Girls Baseball League started a year after the All-American Girls Professio ...

, playing from 1946 to 1953 for the Admiral Music Maids, Chicago Chicks, Chicago Bluebirds, Parichy Bloomer Girls and Rockola Chicks. MacLean stayed working in the United States until 1959 and then returned to Canada. She became married in 1951 to Jesse Moore. Widowed in 1957, she married George Ross in 1960. In recognition of her athletic contribution, she was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and is also in the Alberta Hall of Fame and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. She also is part of ''Women in Baseball'', a permanent display based at the

Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...

Cooperstown, New York Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

. The exhibition was unveiled on November 5, , to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League rather than individual baseball personalities. In 2012, in partnership with the Ross family, Girls Prairie League Softball began awarding the MacLean-Ross Cup in MacLean's memory.Girls Prairie League Softball's MacLean-Ross Cup page

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Lucella All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players Canadian baseball players Sportspeople from Lloydminster 1921 births 2012 deaths National Girls Baseball League players 20th-century American sportswomen American female baseball players