John Charles Crooks (November 9, 1865 – February 2, 1918) was an American

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 (A ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

born in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

. He played mainly as a second baseman, but did spend some time playing

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for four teams during his eight seasons ranging from to . Crooks also amassed a career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .386 despite 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 just .240, due to large part to the high walks totals he compiled. Crooks was well known in his era as an extremely patient hitter, often

fouling Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling materials can consist of either living organisms (biofouling) or a non-living substance (inorganic or organic). Fouling is usually distinguished from other surf ...

off many pitches until he got one that he could hit. This approach led him to draw many walks (also, "bases on balls", or BB), in fact, he held the record for walks by

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

second basemen as well, when he walked 96 times for the

Columbus Solons The Columbus Solons were a professional baseball team in the American Association from 1889 to 1891. In three seasons, they won 200 games and lost 209 for a winning percentage of .489. Their home games were played at Recreation Park in Columbus ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in 1890. He held this record until

Jim Gilliam James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles ...

of the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

walked 100 times in 1953. Despite hitting just .213 in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

, he walked a league-leading 136 times put his

(OBP) at .400, good for fifth in

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. He also became the Major League single-season record holder in that category, a title he held until

Jimmy Sheckard Samuel James Tilden Sheckard (November 23, 1878 – January 15, 1947) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Superbas (1897–98, 1900–01, 1902–05), Baltimore Orioles (NL) (1899), Balti ...

walked 147 times in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * ...

. That total remained the St Louis Browns/Cardinals single-season franchise record until

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, when

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

walked 162 times. The next season, while batting just .237, Crooks' league-leading 121 BB put his OBP at .408. Crooks' career walk rate of 17.6% was the highest among all major leaguers between 1871 and the advent of the

live-ball era The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in (and continuing to the present day), contrasting with the pre-1920 period known as the "dead-ball era". The name "live-ball era" comes ...

in 1920. In addition to playing for Columbus, Crooks also had stints with the Washington Senators, Louisville Colonels, and the St. Louis Browns on two occasions. During his first tenure, he was named as their

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

, in 1892 on an interim basis twice that season. His short managerial career produced a record of 27 wins and 33 losses, with the team finishing a distant 11th place in the

standings. Jack died at the age of 52 in St. Louis, Missouri and was interred at Valhalla Cemetery.Baseball Almanac player page
/ref>

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, Jack 1865 births 1918 deaths Major League Baseball second basemen Baseball players from Saint Paul, Minnesota 19th-century baseball players Columbus Solons players St. Louis Browns (NL) players St. Louis Browns managers Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Louisville Colonels players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players St. Paul Saints (Northwestern League) players Omaha Omahogs players Omaha Lambs players Columbus Senators players Columbus Buckeyes (minor league) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players Major League Baseball player-managers St. Louis Whites players

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References

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