Francis J. McCrehan was an American baseball player and coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Early life

McCrehan was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. His father, Jack McCrehan, was a Cambridge police officer. One of his brothers, Jeremiah “Jud” McCrehan was a minor league baseball player.

Playing career

Cambridge High and Latin School

McCrehan, nicknamed Cheese, played high school baseball at

Cambridge High and Latin School Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He was the starting pitcher for the 1921 CHLS team that won 27 straight games and won the Suburban League championship. His teammates included Doc Gautreau and Sonny Foley.

Boston College

McCrehan pitched for the

Boston College Eagles baseball The Boston College Eagles baseball team represents Boston College in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The head coach of the Eagles is Mike Gambino, a 2000 alumnu ...

team from 1922 to 1925. On June 18, 1923, McCrehan led BC to a 4–1 victory over Ownie Carroll and the

Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, th ...

in front of 30,000 fans at

Braves Field Braves Field was a baseball park located in Boston, Massachusetts. Today the site is home to Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University. The stadium was home of the Boston Braves of the National League from 1915 to 1952, prior to the B ...

. It was one of only two games Carroll lost in his collegiate career (the other was to

Charlie Caldwell Charles William Caldwell (August 2, 1901 – November 1, 1957) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Williams College for 15 seasons between 1928 and 1944 and at Princeton Un ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

the same year).

Minor league and semi-pro baseball

In 1925, McCrehan signed with the Jersey City Skeeters of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. In 1926 he pitched for the Haverhill Hillies of the New England League. In 23 games he had a 7–4 record and an ERA of 4.25. He had a tryout with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

but was not offered a contract. McCrehan was also the player-coach of the North Cambridge Knights of Columbus baseball team and spent five seasons as a member of North Cambridge's team in the Twilight League, where he played with former high school teammates Gautreau and Foley as well as Bill Cleary. The Twilight League club was considered to be one of the best in the state and drew over 30,000 to Russell Field on multiple occasions.

Coaching

In 1926, McCrehan joined Jack Slattery's coaching staff at Boston College as pitching coach. In 1928 he was made the freshman coach. In 1931 he was promoted to head coach of the varsity team. He resigned before the 1939 season due to pressures from his work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Government service

In 1937, McCrehan was appointed by Governor Charles F. Hurley to manage the Boston central office of the State Unemployment Commission. He later worked as a supervisor for the State Department of Education and with Massachusetts' Civil Defense agency. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was a physical education instructor in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. In 1949 he was elected to the Cambridge school committee. He remained on the board until his defeat in 1955.

Personal life and death

McCrehan resided at 146 Rindge Avenue before moving in with his cousin, Mary Louise Riley. He died on March 10, 1960, at the age of 57.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrehan, Frank Date of birth missing 1960 deaths Boston College alumni Boston College Eagles baseball coaches Boston College Eagles baseball players Haverhill Hillies players Jersey City Skeeters players Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts United States Navy personnel of World War II