NORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ Former Virginian-Pilot sports editor George McClelland

died Sunday at his home in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

McClelland, 73, worked at The Virginian-Pilot from 1955 until his

retirement in 1987.

Over the final three years of his newspaper career, McClelland's column

appeared in The Virginian-Pilot and the now-defunct Ledger-Star sports

sections more than 1,000 consecutive days, an unheard-of run at which those

who knew him and worked with him still marvel.

``George was a first-rate sports writer and, as sports editor of the Pilot,

he set an example of high professional standards that have continued in our

sports pages,'' said Frank Batten, chairman of the executive committee of

Landmark Communications Inc., which owns The Virginian-Pilot.

With few exceptions, McClelland attended ad reported on every Tidewater

Tides Triple-A baseball ge, home and away, from the team's arrival in 1969

until he retired. That was fitting, considering McClelland was instrumental in

pursuading the New York Mets, who owned the Tides, to move their Triple-A

affiliate here from Jacksonville, Fla.

McClelland, inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in April, also

rallied support for the construction of Norfolk's Met Park, where the team

played for 23 seasons.

McClelland was raised in New Jersey and New Hampshire and graduated from

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he was on the track team. His first

newspaper job was at the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle, where he worked from 1949 to

1952.

He spent the next three years at the Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald before coming

to The Virginian-Pilot as a sportswriter in May of 1955. He served briefly as

the night city editor, then returned to the sports department as a writer,

covering high school sports primarily.

McClelland became sports editor in 1965 and when The Virginian-Pilot and

The Ledger-Star merged in 1980, McClelland was named executive sports editor

of both papers.

After he retired in 1987, McClelland moved to Port St. Lucie, Fla., where

he worked as a consultant for the Mets at their spring training camp until

retiring in 1999.

McClelland is survived by his wife of 32 years, Jean, two daughters and

three sons.