Don Ross (baseball)

---

title: "Don Ross (baseball)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-births", "1996-deaths", "detroit-tigers-players", "brooklyn-dodgers-players", "cleveland-indians-players", "baseball-players-from-pasadena,-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"] description: "American baseball player (1914–1996)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Ross_(baseball)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (1914–1996) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Don Ross
image	Don Ross 1948.jpg
image_size	160px
caption	Ross, circa 1948
position	Third baseman, outfielder
birth_date
birth_place	Pasadena, California, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Arcadia, California, U.S.
bats	Right
throws	Right
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	April 19
debutyear	1938
debutteam	Detroit Tigers
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	September 22
finalyear	1946
finalteam	Cleveland Indians
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Batting average
stat1value	.262
stat2label	Home runs
stat2value	12
stat3label	Runs batted in
stat3value	162
::

|name=Don Ross |image=Don Ross 1948.jpg |image_size=160px |caption=Ross, circa 1948 |position=Third baseman, outfielder |birth_date= |birth_place=Pasadena, California, U.S. |death_date= |death_place=Arcadia, California, U.S. |bats=Right |throws=Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 19 |debutyear=1938 |debutteam=Detroit Tigers |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 22 |finalyear=1946 |finalteam=Cleveland Indians |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.262 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=12 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=162 |teams=

• Detroit Tigers ()
• Brooklyn Dodgers ()
• Detroit Tigers (–)
• Cleveland Indians (–) Donald Raymond Ross (July 16, 1914 – March 28, 1996) was an American professional baseball third baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Cleveland Indians.

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 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 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, 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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Don_Ross_and_Dick_Gyselman_1947.jpg" caption="Ross (left), as member of the [[Hollywood Stars]], anticipates the throw as [[Seattle Rainiers]] player [[Dick Gyselman]] (right) slides in feet first to third base at [[Gilmore Stadium]] in Los Angeles, California on September 7, 1947."] ::

On April 29, 1945, the Tigers traded Ross and Dutch Meyer to the Cleveland Indians 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 during the 1949 season.

Ross played in 498 major league games, 261 as a third baseman, 115 as an outfielder, 20 as a shortstop 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.

References

References

1. "Don Ross". Sports Reference LLC.
2. "Don Ross minor league statistics". Sports Reference LLC.
3. Charles P. Ward. (April 17, 1938). "Ward Wise". Detroit Free Press.
4. (September 15, 1938). "Sale of Hayworth, Ross Makes Way for Youth". Detroit Free Press.
5. Charles P. Ward. (October 2, 1941). "Big-League Draft Gives Don Ross Second Chance with Tigers: Opportunity to Catch On Seems Better; Detroit Is Weaker at Third Than It Was in 1936 and He Is an Improved Player". Detroit Free Press.
6. (April 30, 1945). "Detroit Trades 2 for Cullenbine: Indians Take Don Ross, Dutch Meyer; Roy Rejoins Club After 6-Year Tour". Detroit Free Press.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::