George Crowe

George Daniel Crowe (March 22, 1921[1] – January 18, 2011)[2] was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 702 games in the major leagues as a first baseman and pinch hitter between 1952 and 1961. Crowe also played with the Negro National League's (Rochester) New York Black Yankees in 1947 and 1948, and he also played professional basketball.

For other people named George Crowe, see George Crowe (disambiguation).
George Crowe
First baseman
Born: (1921-03-22)March 22, 1921
Whiteland, Indiana
Died: January 18, 2011(2011-01-18) (aged 89)
Rancho Cordova, California
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 16, 1952, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
April 30, 1961, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics
Batting average.270
Home runs81
Runs batted in299
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Born in Whiteland, Indiana, Crowe graduated from high school in nearby Franklin and Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis), where he was a member of the Class of 1943. He was the first[3] Indiana "Mr. Basketball"[4] and served in the United States Army during World War II.[5]

Career

MLB first baseman

Crowe batted and threw left-handed, stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg). In Major League Baseball, he played for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves (1952–1953; 1955), Cincinnati Redlegs (1956–1958) and St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1961), all of the National League. He hit 31 home runs for Cincinnati in 1957, filling in most of the season for the injured Ted Kluszewski.

He was selected to the 1958 NL All-Star squad but did not play in the July 8 midsummer classic, won by the rival American League 4–3 at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The previous season, Cincinnati fans had been involved in a ballot stuffing campaign to put all of the team's regulars in the Senior Circuit's starting lineup for the 1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Ed Bailey, Johnny Temple, Roy McMillan, Don Hoak, Frank Robinson, Gus Bell and Wally Post were voted into the lineup, but Crowe was beaten out in the tally by future Cardinal teammate Stan Musial.

Professional basketball

Crowe played professional basketball for the barnstorming New York Renaissance Big Five (aka "Rens").[6] In 1947 Crowe played basketball for the integrated Los Angeles Red Devils, a team that also included future Brooklyn Dodgers' star Jackie Robinson.

Minor and winter league baseball

Crowe was 28 years old when he moved from the Negro leagues to "Organized Baseball", as it slowly began the process of racial integration in the late 1940s.

He was a prodigious minor league batsman, never hitting below .334 until he was a 40-year-old player-coach in 1961, his final year as an active player. In 1950, Crowe played for the Hartford Chiefs of the Class A Eastern League, where he won the batting title (.353) and led the circuit in hits and runs scored. He twice led the Triple-A American Association in runs batted in, with 119 (1951) and 128 (1954).

Crowe also played winter ball with the Santurce Crabbers of the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League during the 1954–55 season, where, as a teammate of Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Buster Clarkson and Bob Thurman, Crowe formed part of the Escuadron Del Panico (the "Panic Squadron") that led the Crabbers to the league and Caribbean World Series championships.

Left-handed second baseman

Crowe played two-thirds of an inning in one game as a second baseman on June 14, 1958, switching fielding positions with Johnny Temple. Still wearing his over-sized first baseman's mitt—Crowe threw left-handed and playing any infield position other than first base is rare for a southpaw—he completed a double play against the batter, pitcher John Briggs of the Chicago Cubs. Although the Cubs won the contest, 4–3, Chicago skipper Bob Scheffing played the game under protest because Crowe had used a non-standard infielder's glove.[7] Scheffing's protest led to a rule change mandating that first basemen moving to a different defensive position must exchange their mitt for a regulation fielder's glove.[8]

MLB totals and milestones

In 702 games over nine MLB seasons, Crowe posted a .270 batting average (467-for-1,727) with 215 runs, 70 doubles, 12 triples, 81 home runs and 299 RBI. He recorded a .990 fielding percentage as a first baseman. Crowe set a record (later broken by Jerry Lynch and subsequently by Cliff Johnson) for most pinch-hit home runs in major league baseball history with 14.

Family

He was the younger brother of Ray Crowe, who was the head basketball coach of the Crispus Attucks High School teams that won two consecutive Indiana state titles in 1954-55 and 1955–56, led by Oscar Robertson.

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References
  1. Baseball Reference
  2. "Standout athlete persevered while facing prejudice". Daily Journal. January 21, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  3. "Crowe: A determined man who didn't like talking about himself". Daily Journal. January 21, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  4. https://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/george-crowe/
  5. Baseball in Wartime
  6. "Crowe's life spanned racial change". Daily Journal. January 26, 2011. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  7. "Chicago Cubs 4, Cincinnati Redlegs 3", June 14, 1958, Retrosheet
  8. Preston, JG. "Left-handed throwing second basemen, shortstops and third basemen". prestonjg.wordpress.com. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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