Rip Russell

Note: For the minor league player named Clarence "Rip" Russell, please click here.

Glen David Russell

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Bell (CA) High School
• Debut May 5, 1939
• Final Game July 13, 1947
• Born January 26, 1915 in Los Angeles, CA USA
• Died September 26, 1976 in Los Alamitos, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

California native Rip Russell spent fifteen active seasons in professional baseball from 1935 to 1949. He started his career with the Ponca City Angels of the class C Western Association and spent the next three seasons (1936-1938) with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. Rip had a good year in '38, hitting .318 with 21 home runs and had a league-leading 216 base-hits. He was invited by the Chicago Cubs to Wrigley Field for the 1939 season.

Russell spent his time with the Cubs at the first base spot. He appeared in 143 games in 1939, hitting .273 with 9 home runs and was in the line-up for 68 games in 1940, hitting .247 with 5 homers. The Cubs used him in six games in 1941 and sent him to the Tulsa Oilers of the Texas League, where he hit .313 with 20 home runs and won the league's MVP award.

Rip was back with the Cubs for the 1942 season and fell off to a .242 average with eight home runs in 102 games. This ended his time with the Chicago team and he spent the next three seasons (1943-1945) again with the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL.

After an outstanding three seasons with the Angels, where he hit .320, .315 and .342 respectively, along with a total of 38 home runs, he returned to the majors. He wound up with the Boston Red Sox, in an unknown transaction, for the 1946 season. He appeared in 80 games in the Red Sox infield but hit just .208 with six homers and after 26 games of little production in 1947, Rip was sent back to the PCL, where he finished out the '47 season hitting at a.329 clip with 8 home runs for the Sacramento Solons. Rip was with both Sacramento and Hollywood of the PCL in 1948, hitting .292 with 13 four-baggers and finished out his career in 23 games for the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association in 1949 at age 34.

Rip finished up his time in the major leagues with a .245 batting average and 29 home runs in 425 games. His minor league numbers show that he hit at a .305 clip with 124 home runs in 1,251 games.

After baseball, Rip was a salesman for a wholesale beer distributor for eighteen years. He died from a heart attack on September 26, 1976, in Los Alamitos, CA, at the age of 61.

Notable Achievements

• 1941 MVP Texas League Tulsa Oilers

Related Sites

• Rip Russell at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page