Raymond Hayes Crone (born August 7, 1931) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. In his playing days, he was a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played in

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), ...

for the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

from 1954 to 1957 and the New York / San Francisco Giants in 1957 and 1958. The native of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, was listed as tall and .

Early life

Prior to playing professionally, Crone attended Memphis, Christian Brothers High School.Information
at

Baseball Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

Wolf, Gregory H. ''Ray Crone.''

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Biography Project He signed a professional contract with the

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in 1949 at the age of 17 and began his career that season. He was used primarily as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

in his early minor league career, reaching win totals as high as 19, accomplishing that in 1953 with the

Jacksonville Braves The Jacksonville Braves were a minor league baseball team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. The Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves Major League Baseball team, they played in the South Atlantic League (the "Sally League") from 1953 to ...

. That year, the Braves franchise transferred to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Major league career

Crone made his major league debut on April 13, 1954, at age 22. He spent 19 games with the big league club, starting two of them and going 1–0 with a 2.02 ERA in 49 innings of work. Of all pitchers on the team that season, he had the second-lowest ERA (trailing only

Charlie Gorin Charles Perry Gorin (February 6, 1928 – February 21, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and left-handed pitcher who appeared in seven games—all in relief—in Major League Baseball during and with the Milwaukee Braves. Born i ...

's 1.86).

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1954 Milwaukee Braves statistics He also spent 14 games in the minor leagues that season. With the Braves in 1955, Crone went 10–9 with a 3.46 ERA in 33 games (15 starts). In 140

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, he allowed only 117

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. Though he spent time in the minors in 1955, it was a short stint – only four games. He went 11–10 with a 3.87 ERA in 35 games in 1956. Crone began the 1957 season with the Braves, going 3–1 with a 4.46 ERA in 11 games (five starts). On June 15, he was traded with

Danny O'Connell Daniel Francis O'Connell (January 21, 1929 – October 2, 1969) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (; ), Milwaukee Braves (– 57), New York/San Francisco Giants (– 59) and Washington Senators (– 62 ...

and

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish Americans, Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants ( ...

to the New York Giants for Hall of Famer

Red Schoendienst Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wit ...

. He went 4–8 with a 4.33 ERA with the Giants that year, and went a combined 7–9 with a 4.36 ERA. Crone played his final major league season in 1958, going 1–2 with a 6.75 ERA in 14 games (one start). On July 15 of that year, he was traded to the

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for

Don Johnson Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Em ...

. He finished the season in the minor leagues, playing his final big league game on July 14. Crone pitched in the minors until 1961, when he was 29 years old. In each of the final three seasons of his minor league career, Crone did not post a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

over .444.

Career totals

Over the course of his five-year major league career, Crone went 30–30 with a 3.87 ERA in 137 games (61 starts). In 546 innings pitched, he struck out 260 batters and walked 173. He allowed 554 hits. He spent 11 seasons in the minors, going 90–77 in 244 games. Although a .115 hitter (18-for-156) with just 5 RBI in his major league career, he fielded his position well, posting a .993

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

, committing only one error in 134

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

Longtime scout

A decade after retiring from the mound, Crone became a

, based in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and working for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and, as of 2017, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

. His son, Ray Jr., is a scout for 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 ...

, and formerly worked in that capacity for the Orioles and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

References

External links

Baseball GaugeVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crone, Ray 1931 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Atlanta Crackers players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee Birmingham Barons players Dallas Rangers players Evansville Braves players Hartford Chiefs players Indios de Oriente players Jacksonville Braves players Jacksonville Jets players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chickasaws players Milwaukee Braves players Montreal Expos scouts New York Giants (NL) players Owensboro Oilers players Portland Beavers players San Diego Padres scouts San Francisco Giants players Toledo Sox players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Christian Brothers University alumni