Cronin, Joseph E.
Baseball
b. Oct. 12, 1906, San Francisco, CA
d. Sept. 7, 1984
Cronin signed his first professional contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925. He spent parts of the 1926 and 1927 seasons with Pittsburgh, but appeared in only 105 games, many of them as a pinch-hitter, before being sold to the Kansas City team in the minor-league American Association.
Kansas City in turn sold him to the Washington Senators midway through the 1928 season. Cronin took over as the team's starting shortstop in 1929 and he became a star the following year, when he was named the AL's most valuable player. He hit .346 with 41 doubles, 127 runs scored, and 126 RBI.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Cronin, a right-hander, led the league in triples with 18 in 1932, when he batted .318 and was also the best fielding shortstop in the AL. He then became playing manager and guided the Senators to their last pennant in 1933. He led the league in doubles with 45 that season and again had the best fielding percentage among shortstops.
Washington lost the World Series to the New York Giants, then fell all the way to seventh place in 1934. The team also lost money, and Cronin was sent to the Boston Red Sox for $250,000 and another player.
Cronin played for the Red Sox until 1945, when he broke a leg early in the season, and he managed them through 1947. He led the league in doubles again with 51 in 1936 and, as a part-time player in 1943, he had a record 5 pinch-hit home runs.
The Red Sox won the 1946 AL pennant but lost to St. Louis in the World Series. Cronin in 1948 became the team's general manager and he was appointed president of the American League in 1959. He held that position until January of 1974, when he became the league' chairman, an honorary position.