James Mark Crandall (December 7, 1912 – February 1983)Information
at Baseball ReferenceRetrosheet
/ref> was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. In his only Major League service, he served as a coach on the last St. Louis Browns team in history, the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

edition. Born in Wadena, Indiana, he was the son of Doc Crandall, a star pitcher with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

from 1908–1913, and one of the game's top early relief pitchers. Jim Crandall's professional baseball career was confined to minor league baseball, except for the latter half of the Major League season, when he swapped jobs with Bill Norman, who was on the coaching staff of Brownie manager Marty Marion. Crandall had begun the year as skipper of the

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. ...

of the Double-A Texas League, where he lasted into July before taking Norman's old post with the Browns.King, David, ''San Antonio At Bat: Professional Baseball in the Alamo City'', page 107
/ref> Losers of 100 games, St. Louis' last American League entry finished eighth and last, games behind the New York Yankees. Owner

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...

was pressured into selling the team to

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interests, who shifted the club to their city for

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Marion and Crandall were not retained by the new ownership and management team, and Crandall resumed his minor league career. A

switch-hitting In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

catcher and right-handed pitcher, he played in 1932, 1934–1940 and 1945–1947. He managed in 1940 and from 1946–1955, spending much of that time working in the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s of the Browns and Cincinnati Redlegs. He died in February 1983 at age 70 in

Bullhead City, Arizona Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the em ...

, although no specific date of death has been listed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crandall, Jim 1912 births 1983 deaths Baseball players from Indiana Des Moines Demons players Hollywood Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Johnstown Johnnies players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players People from Benton County, Indiana People from Bullhead City, Arizona Pittsburg Browns players St. Louis Browns coaches St. Louis Browns scouts San Antonio Missions managers Toledo Mud Hens players Vancouver Capilanos players