Len Rice

Leonard Oliver Rice

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• Debut April 26, 1944
• Final Game September 29, 1945
• Born September 2, 1918 in Lead, SD USA
• Died June 13, 1992 in Sonora, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Each Cubs catcher in 1945 had specific strengths, but no one was clearly superior . . . Considered to have a great throwing arm and handle pitchers well . . . Rice was by far the fastest base runner . . ." - from the book Wrigley Field's Last World Series

Len Rice played in the majors in 1944-45, getting most of his playing time with the 1945 Cubs, a team which won the 1945 National League pennant. He was one of four Cubs catchers that year, a year in which an expanded roster was allowed for servicemen, and a year in which no one Cubs catcher caught more than 68 games.

Len was born in Lead, SD, one of only 36 players through 2009 born in South Dakota. He is through 2009 the only major leaguer born in Lead, a town near Deadwood in far western South Dakota.

His parents moved to Oakland, CA when he was young. Due to an injury suffered while playing high school football, he had a kidney removed.

Rice began playing in the minors in Nebraska at age 18, first as an outfielder, then as a first baseman and finally as a catcher. As he got older, his hitting improved and had a peak in 1940 when he batted .354 for Tucson with 18 triples.

He injured his back a couple times while playing minor league ball in 1937-38. He also had a couple head injuries in 1943. He would have gotten into more games in 1945 but he suffered a concussion in June.

After his major league days he played three seasons for San Diego and one for Dallas. Here is a photo of him with the 1949 Dallas team.

After baseball he worked for a paving contractor as an estimator.

One source: Rice .