Ralph McLeod

Who was Ralph McLeod?

Ralph Alton McLeod was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Bees late in the 1938 season. Listed at 6 ft 0 in, 170 lb., he batted and threw left-handed.

A native of Quincy, Massachusetts, McLeod was called up to the majors by the Boston Bees in September 1938. He collected his first hit, a single, off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Paul Dean on September 21 –the same day the Hurricane of 1938 struck New England. During the off season he worked as a salesman at a department store, but his baseball career was cut short when he was drafted into the army during World War II. In a six-game career, he was a .286 hitter, including one double and one run scored.

McLeod served as an infantryman for five years and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After being discharged, he worked as a firefighter in his native Quincy for 32 years until his retirement in 1980. McLeod died in Weymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of 90.