Frank Donald Croucher (July 23, 1914 – May 21, 1980), nicknamed "Dingle", was an American baseball shortstop. He played professional baseball from 1934 to 1942 and 1946 to 1947, including four seasons in Major League Baseball with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1939–1941) and Washington Senators (1942). He was the Tigers' starting shortstop in 1939 and 1941. In four major league seasons, he appeared in 296 games and compiled a .251 batting average with 7

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 86

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

. He missed the 1943 through 1945 seasons due to service in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. During his minor league career, Croucher played for the

Alexandria Aces The Alexandria Aces were a baseball team based in Alexandria, Louisiana. The last version of the Aces played in the United League Baseball in 2013. The Aces have played their home games at historic Bringhurst Field, which was built in 1933 for the ...

(1934),

Springfield Senators The Springfield Senators were a minor league baseball team based in Springfield, Illinois that played on-and-off from 1889 to 1935. The team played in the Central Interstate League (1889), the Three-I League (1904-1912, 1925–1932, 1935) and the Mi ...

(1935), Beaumont Exporters (1935-1936, 1938), Toledo Mud Hens (1946),

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

(1946-1947), and

Little Rock Travelers The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A (baseball), Double-A circuit ...

(1947).

Early years

Crowder was born in 1914 in San Antonio, Texas. He was the son of Justice Lee Croucher (1872–1934) and Sarah Elizabeth (Manicom) Croucher (1877–1955).

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

Croucher began playing professional baseball in 1934 as the second baseman for the

of the Evangeline League. He hit .270 with a .395

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

at Alexandria. In 1935, he played second base for the

of the Three-I League, a farm team in the

' farm system. He improved his batting average to .347 with a .486 slugging percentage. In 1936, he played second base for the Beaumont Exporters in the Texas League. He compiled a .321 batting average with career highs in doubles (36), triples (12), and home runs (11). Jack Zeller, who was then Detroit's scout in the Texas League, described Croucher: "This kid is a fielding fool. He owns a pair of sure hands, goes equally well to his left and right, gets the ball away fast and owns a powerful throwing arm. Croucher is gifted with baseball sense and studies batters and anticipates plays smartly. Frank is a natural hitter, too. If he has any weakness I failed to detect it while watching him play in more than 100 games last season." In 1937, he advanced to the Tigers' top farm team, the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association. He was Toledo's starting shortstop in 1936, appearing in 152 games while compiling a .276 batting average. He was shifted to shortstop because Detroit's second base position was covered by Hall of Famer

Charlie Gehringer Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...

Detroit Tigers

Croucher impressed the Tigers during spring training in 1938, so much so that they moved long-time shortstop

Billy Rogell William George Rogell (; November 24, 1904 – August 9, 2003) was an American baseball player who played 14 years in Major League Baseball, primarily as a shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. He made his major league debut on April 14, 1925 and p ...

to third base to make room for Croucher at shortstop. Manager

Mickey Cochrane Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detro ...

noted: "This Croucher can go a long way to get a ball. It's going to be hard to keep him off the team." However, on April 2, 1938, Croucher broke his leg while sliding into second base during a Florida exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Upon seeing Croucher's injury, teammate Don Ross noted: "My stomach turned over half a dozen times when I saw Frank's right leg doubled up like a pretzel. It was a terrible feeling. I'm not quite sure how I finished the game." Croucher's bone had to be screwed back together, and he was hospitalized for five weeks. Doctors and others who saw Croucher's "foot dangling at the ankle" called it one of the worst bone breaks ever seen on a baseball player and predicted he would never play again. Croucher returned from his injury in September 1938, appearing in 11 games for Beaumont. When he showed up at the Tiger's training camp in 1939, Hank Greenberg called Croucher "the best young player we have in camp." He made the club and replaced Rogell as Detroit's starting shortstop. Croucher appeared in 97 games (87 as the starter) at shortstop in 1939. At the plate, he hit .269 with five home runs and a .303 on-base percentage. Croucher lost the starting job in 1940 to

Dick Bartell __NOTOC__ Richard William Bartell (November 22, 1907 – August 4, 1995), nicknamed "Rowdy Richard", was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop from to . One of the m ...

. He appeared in only 27 games in 1940, only seven games as the starting shortstop, and his batting average dropped to .105 as he managed only six hits in 57 at bats. Croucher played one inning in Game 6 of the 1940 World Series at shortstop, as a replacement for Dick Bartell, but did not bat. In 1941, Croucher regained his job as the Tigers' starting shortstop. He appeared in 136 games, 133 as the team's starting shortstop, and brought his batting average up to a respectable .254. On December 12, 1941, Croucher was traded by the Detroit Tigers with

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film ''Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low ...

to the Washington Senators in exchange for

Jimmy Bloodworth James Henry Bloodworth (July 26, 1917 – August 17, 2002) was a professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators (1937 and 1939–41), Detroit Tigers (1942–43 and 1946), Pittsburgh ...

and

Doc Cramer Roger Maxwell "Doc" Cramer (July 22, 1905 – September 9, 1990) was an American center fielder and left-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played for four American League teams from 1929 to 1948. Career A mainstay at the top of his team ...

. At the time, the ''Detroit Free Press'' wrote: "Once hailed as the most promising prospect of the Tiger farm system, . . . Croucher was believed by many to have lost whatever chance he ever had of making good at Detroit. Even his friends suggested that a change of scenery might be beneficial to him."

Washington Senators

Croucher missed most of 1942 with a sore arm, playing only 26 games for the Senators. In four major league seasons, Croucher played in 296 games and had a .251 batting average, with 7

, 86

, 94 runs, a .295

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .324

Military service

In February 1943, Croucher was inducted into the United States Army. He missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons due to wartime military service.

Postwar comeback attempt

After the war, Croucher attempted a comeback in the St. Louis Browns' farm system. During the 1946 season, he played 16 games for the Toledo Mud Hens and 85 games for the

. His batting average in 1946 was .190. He began the 1947 season with San Antonio, but was traded to the

in early May. He appeared in only 17 games in 1947 (eight with San Antonio, nine with Little Rock) and compiled a .196 batting average.

Later years

Croucher was married to Bereta P. Croucher (1919-1993). He died in 1980 at Webster, Texas. He was buried at Forest Park Cemetery in Houston.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croucher, Frank 1914 births 1980 deaths Baseball players from San Antonio Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball shortstops United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II