Jack Crooks
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John Charles Crooks (November 9, 1865 - February 2, 1918) was an American Major League Baseball infielder from St. Paul, Minnesota. He played mainly second base and third base for four different teams during his eight seasons ranging from 1889 to 1898.[1]
Crooks was well known in his era as an extremely patient hitter, often fouling off many pitches until he got the pitch he was looking for.[2] This approach led him to draw many walks, in fact, when he walked a league-leading 136 times in 1892, he became the single season record holder in that category, a title he held until Babe Ruth walked 170 times in 1923.[3] He held the record for walks by rookie second basemen as well, when he walked 96 times for the Columbus Solons of the American Association in 1890. He held this record until Jim Gilliam of the Brooklyn Dodgers walked 100 times in 1953.[4]
In addition to playing for Columbus, he also had stints with the Washington Senators, Louisville Colonels, and the St. Louis Browns on two different occasions. During his first tenor, he was named as their player-manager, in 1892 on an interim basis twice that season. His short managerial career produced a record of 27 wins and 33 losses, with the team finishing a distant 11th place in the National League standings.[5]
Jack died at the age of 52 in St. Louis, Missouri and was buried in Valhalla Cemetery.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Baseball-Reference career statistics
- ^ Management By Baseball
- ^ Compendium of Baseball Statistics
- ^ The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia
- ^ Baseball-Reference manager statistics
- ^ Baseball Almanac player page
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Cub Stricker |
St. Louis Browns Manager 1892 |
Succeeded by George Gore |
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