Joe Cronin
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Joseph Edward Cronin (October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was a Major League Baseball player from 1926 to 1945 and manager from 1933 to 1947. He was a shortstop and was an All-Star seven times.
Born in the Excelsior district of San Francisco, Cronin broke into the majors in 1926 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and moved to the Washington Senators in 1928.
Legendary baseball promoter Joe Engel, who scouted for the Senators and managed the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium got a steal of a deal on Cronin.
When Engel first spotted Cronin playing in Kansas City, "I knew I was watching a great player. I bought Cronin at a time he was hitting .221. When I told Clark Griffith what I had done, he screamed, "You paid $7,500 for that bum? Well, you didn't buy him for me. You bought him for yourself. He's not my ballplayer - he's yours. You keep him and don't either you or Cronin show up at the ballpark." Cronin became the best player on the World Series winning Senators club in the early 1930s and even married Griffith's daughter.
In 1930, Cronin had a break out year, batting .346 with 13 home runs and 126 RBI. His 1931 season was nearly identical, posting a .306 average, 12 home runs and 126 RBI.
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| Joe Cronin is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
Cronin assumed managerial duties in 1933, a role he would continue with the Boston Red Sox, the team he was traded to prior to the 1935 season, by Senators' owner Clark Griffith - his own father-in-law. Cronin's playing career finished in 1945 but he remained a manager until 1947.
Over his career, Cronin batted .300 or higher eight times as well as knocking in 100 runs or more eight times. He finished with a .301 average, 170 home runs and 1424 RBI. As a manager, he compiled a 1,236-1,055 record and won two American League championships (in 1933 and 1946). His 1933 Senators dropped the 1933 World Series to the New York Giants in six games, and his 1946 Bosox lost the 1946 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven contests.
At the end of the 1947 season, he succeeded Eddie Collins as general manager of the Red Sox and continued in that post through 1958. The Red Sox challenged for the AL pennant in 1948-49 (finishing second by a single game both seasons) thanks to Cronin's aggressive trades, but they began a slow decline during the 1950s and did not seriously contend after 1950. The Red Sox lavished bonus contracts on a series of young players who never became stars, and were the last team in major league baseball to integrate its roster. In January 1959, Cronin was elected president of the American League, the first former player to be so elected. Six months later, on July 21, 1959, infielder Pumpsie Green was recalled from the AAA Minneapolis Millers, becoming the first African-American to wear a Red Sox uniform.
Cronin served as AL president until early 1973, when he was succeeded by Lee MacPhail. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. Joe Cronin died at the age of 78 on September 7, 1984 in Osterville, Massachusetts, and is buried in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in nearby Centerville.
His jersey number 4 was formally retired by the Red Sox on May 29, 1984. In 1999, he was named as a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
See also
[edit] External links
- Joe Cronin at:
| Preceded by Will Harridge |
American League president 1959–1973 |
Succeeded by Lee MacPhail |
| Preceded by Eddie Collins |
Red Sox General Manager 1948 - 1958 |
Succeeded by Bucky Harris |
| Preceded by Bucky Harris |
Boston Red Sox Manager 1935-1947 |
Succeeded by Joe McCarthy |
| Preceded by Walter Johnson |
Washington Senators Manager 1933-1934 |
Succeeded by Bucky Harris |
Categories: Baseball Hall of Fame | American League All-Stars | Boston Red Sox players | Pittsburgh Pirates players | Washington Senators players | Boston Red Sox managers | Washington Senators managers | Major league shortstops | Baseball managers | Baseball player-managers | Baseball executives | Major League Baseball general managers | 1906 births | 1984 deaths | Irish-American sportspeople | Baseball players who have hit for the cycle | People from San Francisco | Major league players from California
