Frederick Joseph Crolius (April 19, 1876 – August 25, 1960) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and coach. He was the first player from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

to play

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He was at Tufts in 1894, and at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

, where he also played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

, from 1896 until 1899. He spent two years in majors with the

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

and the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Crolius also played pro football with the independent

Homestead Library & Athletic Club The Carnegie Library of Homestead is a public library founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1898. It is one of 2,509 Carnegie libraries worldwide; 1,689 built in the United States. It was the sixth library commissioned by Carnegie in the U.S. and the s ...

and the

Pittsburgh Stars The Pittsburgh Stars or Pittsburg Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that were only in existence for one season in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the first National Football ...

of the first National Football League. He later served as a coach of both sports after his playing career ended.

Playing career

Baseball

At age 24, he broke into the big leagues on April 19, 1901, with the

. Crolius served as the team's fourth outfielder, playing mostly

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, where he backed up

Jimmy Slagle James Franklin Slagle (July 11, 1873 – May 10, 1956), nicknamed both "Rabbit" and "Shorty", was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1899 to 1908. In his 10 MLB seasons, he played for fou ...

. In 1901, his rookie year, he held a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .240 with 1

home run 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 13

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. On July 22, 1901, Crolius had four hits which led to three runs scored in a 16–3 win over the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. In his second year in the majors, Crolius played for the

for nine games in 1902, before ending his baseball career. In 1906 he was made ineligible to play with any National club by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues due to a contract dispute with a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

club from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Football

In 1898 Fred Crolius was the captain of the Dartmouth football team. He was considered one of the best halfbacks in the game, but received little notice from the media, since Dartmouth was historically seen as having a weak football program. In 1901 as a member of the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, located near

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Crolius served as the team's halfback. That year, he scored the tying

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

against the

Blondy Wallace Charles Edgar "Blondy" Wallace (died March 5, 1937) was an early professional football player and later convicted criminal during the Prohibition Era. He was a 240-pound, former Walter Camp second-team All-American tackle from the University o ...

Philadelphia Athletic Club The Philadelphia Phillies were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the National Football League (1902), National Football League—not to be confused wi ...

. Homestead won the game 6–5; touchdowns were worth five points in 1901. In 1902, Crolius served as a halfback on the

, a member of first National Football League that was suspected of being financed by baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. During the 1902 season, the Stars won the league championship.

Coaching career

Baseball

After his playing career, Crolius served as the coach the

Villanova Wildcats baseball The Villanova Wildcats baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The program's first season was in 1866, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I Big ...

team from 1905 until 1911. While with Villanova, acquired a 116–45–5 record. He also served as the manager of the

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named fo ...

, where he guided the team to a 70–58 record in 1906.

Football

In 1899, he also served as the head coach for the

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

football team. He guided Bowdoin to a 2–6 record. In 1902, Crolius was the head coach of the

Pittsburgh Panthers football The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the College athletics, intercollegiate American football, football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport a ...

team. That year the team racked up a 5–6–1 record. Crolius then coached the

Villanova Wildcats The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East (NCAA Division I) for every sport; except football and rowing where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association (Football Championship Sub ...

to an 18–38–5 record between 1904 and 1911.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crolius, Fred 1876 births 1960 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football halfbacks Boston Beaneaters players Homestead Library & Athletic Club players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pittsburgh Stars players Bowdoin Polar Bears football coaches Dartmouth Big Green baseball players Dartmouth Big Green football players Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Villanova Wildcats baseball coaches Villanova Wildcats football coaches Minor league baseball managers Norwich Reds players Springfield Ponies players Lancaster Red Roses players Tufts University alumni Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey Baseball players from Jersey City, New Jersey