Thursday, July 2, 2009

Boston Red Sox: 4 Joe Cronin

Team: Boston Red Sox

Retired Numbers: 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 27, 42

#4 Joe Cronin(Shortstop): Pittsburgh Pirates(1926-1927), Washington Senators(1928-1934), Boston Red Sox(1935-1945)

Joe Cronin wasn't just your average baseball player. He didn't just think about hitting and defense but also managing. Joe was signed by the Pirates, but only played 50 games before being sold to the Washington Senators for $7,500. Cronin was assigned to the manger position while still playing Shortstop. The Senators went on to play in the 1933 World Series but ended up losing to the Giants. In 1934 the Washington Senators decided to trade Joe Cronin to the Boston Red Sox. Joe would only played 6 full seasons in which 4 of those he batted above .300. He was also successful as a manager achieving over a 1,000 wins with the Red Sox. Cronin retired as a player in 1945, and as a manager in 1947. He also served as the Red Sox GM for 12 years until being elected as the AL president.

Best Season: 1930 .346 BA(203 H)/.422 OBP/13 HR

Career Stats: .301 Ba(2,285 H)/.390 OBP

Top Records: 6th most RBI's by a SS, 4th most Doubles by a SS

Awards: Hall of Fame(inducted in 1956), 2nd place in 1933 AL MVP voting

Best Card: 2008 Prime Cut Joe Cronin Cut Auto 1/1

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