Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball

by Mark Armour

From the sandlots of San Francisco to the power centers of baseball, this book tells the story of Joe Cronin, one of twentieth-century baseball’s major players, both on the field and off. For most of his playing career, Cronin (1906–84) was the best shortstop in baseball. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956, he was a manager by the age of twenty-six and a general manager at forty-one. He was the youngest player-manager ever to play in the World Series, and he managed the Red Sox longer than any other man in history. As president of the American League, he oversaw two expansions, four franchise shifts, and the revolutionary and controversial introduction of the designated-hitter rule, which he wrote himself. This book follows Cronin from his humble beginnings to his position as one of the most powerful figures in baseball. Mark Armour explores Cronin’s time as a player as well as his role in some of the game’s fiercest controversies, from the creation of the All-Star Game to the issue of integration. Bringing to life one of baseball’s definitive characters, this book supplies a crucial and fascinating chapter in the history of America’s pastime.  

Genres: Baseball, Sports

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Harold Kasselman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this a 3.5 book, but I can't say I liked it a lot(what 4 stars signifies). I knew very little about Joe Cronin and this book certainly gave me all I needed to know about his career. He had a forty nine year baseball career from a player, to player manager, to GM, and almost to the penultimate job of commissioner yet still president as President of the American League for fifteen years. We don't get to know intimate details of his personal life, perhaps because he had a model marriage, was not a big drinker, didn't party, and was a devoted religious man. What we do know is that he had the work ethic to make himself a super star baseball player and to become a player manager who took two different teams to the world series. He was a loyal man, whether to his mentor Clark Griffith or Tom Yawkey, or to his players for whom he had their backs. By all accounts he was an amiable man who was well liked by hundreds of people in the game. So we can render an opinion that Joe Cronin was a man who loved the game, his family, and his friends with the same passion and commitment that he showed on the playing field. His legacy as a skipper or GM or President of the American League, like most men, is mixed but he evolved with the game and advocated strongly for the DH, pinch runners, and inter league play. He also oversaw the first expansion teams in the AL and two divisions with a playoff for the league championship. His years as manager were largely successful, coming within a pennant twice by one game, and dealing with players like Ted Williams and Jimmy Piersall make for very interesting reading. Overall, it is an enjoying look at a man whose career took off in the depression, when player/managers saved owners some money, to the era which saw the end of the reserve clause and the beginning of huge gains by the players and umpires unions. At the time of his death only two Red Sox players had their numbers retired: one was #4 Joe Cronin and the other was #9 Ted Williams. That says quite a bit about the man. Mr. Armour does him justice.

[Robert Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with Spiros. Mr. Armour is a very good writer but his one-dimensional subject doesn't give him much to work with. He's almost like baseball's version of Forrest Gump, there in the background during some fairly significant events and in the picture with some truly historical figures, but not registering much on the meter.

[Alec Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, engaging account of a baseball lifer - a Hall of Fame shortstop who pennant though never a World Series, a long time manager, and finally AL President. I really enjoyed reading about Cronin's career and especially the controversies he struggled with as the AL was largely outmatched by the NL during the 60s, a time when the League presidents had real power.

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

A workmanlike biography of San Francisco's very own Joe Cronin, the outstanding American League shortstop of the late 20's - '30's. Armour is anxious to acquit Cronin of any charges of racism (the Red Sox, the team for which Cronin served many years as field manager and general manager, were the last to integrate their roster), but he can't acquit Cronin of being a not very charismatic figure. Also, I find Armour's claim that, before the building of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges, "San Francisco was still largely landlocked" to be perplexing, if not downright bizarre.

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed this bio of a shortstop turned player-manager, then manager, general manager, and then league president. In one broad life he was both the starting AL short stop in the very first All Star game, and the President of the league that brought the Designated Hitter to the American League.

Anecdotes, observations are backed up by solid reference; some of the general criticisms are shot down by the same. The chapters break along logical lines, with the biography focusing on both the subject and the relevant history around him.

Basically a great book to read.