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Joe Cronin

Cronin with the Boston Red Sox in 1937

Shortstop / Manager

Born: October 12, 1906
San Francisco, California, U.S.

Died: September 7, 1984 (aged 77)
Osterville, Massachusetts, U.S.

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

debut

April 29, 1926, for the Pittsburgh Pirates

Last appearance

April 19, 1945, for the Boston Red Sox

MLB statistics

Batting average

.301

Hits

2,285

Home runs

170

Runs batted in

1,424

Managerial record

1,236–1,055

Winning %

.540

Teams

As player

Pittsburgh Pirates (1926–1927)
Washington Senators (1928–1934)
Boston Red Sox (1935–1945)

As manager

Washington Senators (1933–1934)
Boston Red Sox (1935–1947)

Career highlights and awards

7× All-Star (1933–1935, 1937–1939, 1941)
Boston Red Sox No. 4 retired
Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
Washington Nationals Ring of Honor

Baseball Hall of Fame

Induction

1956

Vote

78.8% (tenth ballot)

Joseph Edward Cronin (born October 12, 1906 – died September 7, 1984) was a very important person in American baseball. He was a professional player, a manager, and an executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, especially for the Boston Red Sox.

Cronin spent more than 48 years in baseball. He even became the president of the American League (AL) for 14 years. During his 20 years as a player (1926–1945), he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators, and the Boston Red Sox. He was also a player-manager for 13 seasons (1933–1945) and a manager for two more (1946–1947). He was chosen as an All-Star seven times. He was the first American League player to be an All-Star with two different teams. Joe Cronin was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.

Early Life and Baseball Dreams
Playing in the Major Leagues
Hall of Fame and Legacy
Career Statistics
Managerial Record
Later Life and Passing
See also

Early Life and Baseball Dreams

Seven of the American League's 1937 All-Star players, including Joe Cronin (second from left). All seven later joined the Hall of Fame.

Joe Cronin was born in San Francisco, California. His family lost almost everything in the big 1906 San Francisco earthquake that happened just before he was born. He went to Sacred Heart High School. As a kid, Joe played many sports. He even won a city tennis championship when he was 14!

Joe wasn't always super interested in school. But his grades got better when the San Francisco Seals baseball team started giving free tickets to students who had good behavior and attendance. Back then, the closest MLB team was very far from San Francisco.

Playing in the Major Leagues

Starting as a Player

Joe Cronin started his Major League Baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1926 and 1927. A baseball scout named Joe Engel saw Cronin play in Kansas City. Engel worked for the Washington Senators. He signed Cronin to play for the Senators in 1928.

In 1930, Cronin had a great year. He hit for a .346 average, hit 13 home runs, and had 126 RBI. He won two important MVP awards that year. In 1931, he continued to play well, with a .306 average, 12 home runs, and 126 RBIs. Cronin helped the Senators reach the 1933 World Series. After that season, he married Mildred Robertson, who was the niece of the Senators' owner, Clark Griffith.

Becoming a Player-Manager

In 1933, Joe Cronin became the player-manager for the Washington Senators. This meant he played on the team and also made decisions as the manager. In his first year in this role, he led the Senators to win their league championship, called a pennant. This was the last time the Senators would win a pennant while in Washington.

While Joe was on his honeymoon, he got a message from the Senators' owner. The Boston Red Sox wanted to trade for him! The Red Sox offered their shortstop, Lyn Lary, and $250,000 for Cronin. The Red Sox owner, Tom Yawkey, also offered Cronin a five-year contract to be their player-manager. Joe knew the Senators often had money problems, so he accepted the trade. Cronin stayed as the Red Sox player-manager until 1945. After that, he was their manager until 1947.

Around 1938, the Red Sox thought Joe Cronin might not be able to play as much anymore. They found a young shortstop named Pee Wee Reese. The Red Sox even bought the team Reese played for to make him their top farm club player. But when Cronin was asked to scout Reese, he realized Reese might take his spot. Cronin believed he could still play well, so he didn't praise Reese's talent much. The Red Sox ended up trading Reese to the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he became a Hall of Fame player. It turned out the Red Sox were right about Cronin's playing time. After 1941, he played in fewer games each season.

During World War II, many young players joined the military. Cronin still played sometimes as a utility infielder or a pinch-hitter. A pinch-hitter is a player who bats in place of another player. On June 17, 1943, Cronin pinch-hit in both games of a doubleheader and hit a home run in each game!

In April 1945, he broke his leg in a game. He didn't play for the rest of that season and retired as a player at the end of the year.

Over his career, Cronin batted .300 or higher eight times. He also had 100 or more RBIs eight times. He finished his playing career with a .301 batting average, 170 home runs, and 1,424 RBIs.

As a manager, he won 1,236 games and lost 1,055. He led his teams to two American League pennants (in 1933 and 1946). His 1933 Senators lost the 1933 World Series to the New York Giants. His 1946 Red Sox team, which was the first Red Sox team to win a pennant in 28 years, lost the 1946 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Becoming a General Manager

After the 1947 season, Cronin became the general manager of the Red Sox. He held this job for over 11 years. As general manager, Cronin helped the Red Sox compete for the AL pennant in 1948 and 1949. They finished second by just one game each season.

In his first off-season, he made some important trades. He got shortstop Vern Stephens and pitchers Ellis Kinder and Jack Kramer. These players were very important for the 1948 Red Sox. That year, the Red Sox tied for first place but lost a special playoff game. Kinder and Stephens also helped the Red Sox in 1949 and 1950.

The Red Sox team started to get older in the 1950s. Cronin worked to rebuild the team. He made a great trade in 1954 to get Jackie Jensen, who would later become an American League Most Valuable Player. The Red Sox had winning records for most of Cronin's time as general manager. In January 1959, Cronin left the team to become the American League president.

During Cronin's time as general manager, the Red Sox were the only major league team that had not yet had a black player. He tried to sign black players, including Willie Mays and Larry Doby. In 1949, he signed Lorenzo "Piper" Davis, who became the first black player to sign with the Red Sox organization. However, Davis was released after one season. Later, in 1953, Cronin's farm system signed pitcher Earl Wilson. In 1955, they bought infielder Pumpsie Green. Both Wilson and Green eventually played for the Red Sox in 1959. Pumpsie Green became the first African-American to play in a major league game for the Red Sox on July 21, 1959. One week later, Earl Wilson became the second, and the first black pitcher for the team.

Leading the American League

Joe Cronin (far right) with Richard Nixon on April 7, 1969. Managers Ted Williams (left) and Ralph Houk (right) are also pictured.

In January 1959, Joe Cronin was chosen to be the president of the American League. He was the first former player to hold this important position. He moved the league's main office from Chicago to Boston. Cronin was the AL president until December 31, 1973.

During his 15 years as president, the American League grew a lot. It went from eight teams to 12 teams. New teams like the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals joined. Also, some teams moved to new cities, like the Washington Senators moving to become the Minnesota Twins in 1961. The Athletics moved from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968. The Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers in 1970. The new Washington Senators team moved to Dallas–Fort Worth to become the Texas Rangers in 1972.

The American League also started using the designated hitter rule in 1973. This rule was designed to make games more exciting by increasing scoring.


Joe Cronin's number 4 was retired by the Boston Red Sox in 1984.

Hall of Fame and Legacy

Joe Cronin was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956, along with Hank Greenberg.

Just before Cronin passed away, his jersey number 4 was retired by the Red Sox on May 29, 1984. This means no other Red Sox player will wear that number. His former teammate, Ted Williams, said he respected Cronin very much as a person. Joe Cronin was also known as a "clutch hitter." This means he was great at getting hits when his team needed them most. Manager Connie Mack once said that with a runner on third base and one out, he would want Cronin batting more than anyone else he had ever seen.

In 1999, he was considered for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, which honored the best players of the 20th century. The Joe Cronin Award was created in 1973 to honor American League players for their great achievements.

Career Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	AVG	OBP	SLG	FLD%
2,124	7,579	1,233	2,285	515	118	170	1,424	1,059	.301	.390	.468	.953

Managerial Record

Team	Year	Regular season					Postseason
Team	Year	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
WAS	1933	152	99	53	.651	1st in AL	1	4	.200	Lost World Series (NYG)
WAS	1934	152	66	86	.434	7th in AL	–	–	–	–
WAS total		304	165	139	.543		1	4	.200
BOS	1935	153	78	75	.510	4th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1936	154	74	80	.481	6th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1937	152	80	72	.526	5th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1938	149	88	61	.591	2nd in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1939	151	89	62	.589	2nd in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1940	154	82	72	.532	5th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1941	154	84	70	.545	2nd in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1942	152	93	59	.612	2nd in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1943	152	68	84	.447	7th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1944	154	77	77	.500	4th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1945	154	71	83	.461	7th in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS	1946	154	104	50	.675	1st in AL	3	4	.429	Lost World Series (STL)
BOS	1947	154	83	71	.539	3rd in AL	–	–	–	–
BOS total		1987	1071	916	.539		3	4	.429
Total		2291	1236	1055	.540		4	8	.333

Later Life and Passing

In his last months, Joe Cronin was ill with cancer. He passed away at age 77 on September 7, 1984, at his home in Osterville, Massachusetts. He is buried in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery.