John J. Cronin (May 26, 1874 – July 12, 1929) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) pitcher. He played professionally from 1895 through 1912. His MLB career included stints with the Brooklyn Grooms (1895),

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

(1898),

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

(1899),

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1901–1902),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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) East Division. As one of the America ...

(1902),

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

(1902–1903), and

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

(1904).

Career

Cronin began his professional career pitching in two games for the Hartford Bluebirds of the Connecticut State League in July 1895. He signed with the Brooklyn Grooms, appearing in two games before receiving his release in September. In May 1896, Cronin pitched for Pottsville of the Class-B

Pennsylvania State League The Pennsylvania State League was an American minor league baseball sports league that operated from 1892 to 1895, then became the first Atlantic League (1896–1900), Atlantic League. The league member teams were exclusively based in Pennsylvania ...

, before joining the New York Metropolitans of the Class-A Atlantic League, where he pitched from June through July. He signed with the Bangor Millionaires of the Maine State League in 1897, and joined the Fall River Indians of the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

in July 1897. He pitched for Fall River through July 8, 1898, when he was purchased by the

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL). Released from the Pirates, Cronin joined the

, then in the Class-A Western League in 1899. On September 18, 1899, the

of the (NL) purchased Cronin from Detroit. In April 1900, they returned Cronin to Detroit, now a member of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. Cronin was released by the Tigers on June 8, 1902, and he signed with the

that same day. However, the Orioles struggled with debt.

Joe Kelley Joseph James Kelley (December 9, 1871 – August 14, 1943) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who starred in the outfield of the Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s. Making up the nucleus of the Orioles along with Jo ...

, star player for the Orioles and son-in-law of part-owner John Mahon, reported that the team owed as much as $12,000 ($ in current dollar terms). Unable to afford that debt, Mahon purchased shares of the team from Kelley and

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. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

. With this, Mahon became the majority shareholder, owning 201 of the team's 400 shares. On July 17, 1902, Mahon sold his interest in the Orioles to Andrew Freedman, principal owner of the Giants of the NL, and John T. Brush, principal owner of the

, also of the NL. That day, Freedman released Cronin, Kelley, Dan McGann, Cy Seymour,

Roger Bresnahan Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "the Duke of Tralee", was an American baseball player and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washingto ...

, and Joe McGinnity from their contracts with Orioles. Freedman signed Cronin, McGann, Bresnahan, and McGinnity and to the Giants, joining McGraw, who had signed with the Giants ten days earlier. Brush signed Seymour and Kelley to the Reds. After the 1903 season, on December 12, 1903, the Giants traded Cronin with

Charlie Babb Charlie may refer to: Film and television * ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Charlie'' (TV series), a 2015 political drama series based ...

and $6,000 ($ in current dollar terms) to the

for

Bill Dahlen William Frederick Dahlen (January 5, 1870 – December 5, 1950), nicknamed "Bad Bill", was an American shortstop and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball who played for four National League (baseball), National League teams from ...

. Cronin pitched for the Superbas in 1904. Released after the season, Cronin returned to

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. He signed with the Providence Clamdiggers, later known as the Providence Grays, of the Eastern League in 1905, and pitched for them through 1910.The News-Democrat – Google News Archive Search
/ref> He then joined the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. In 1912, Cronin pitched for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

of the outlaw United States Baseball League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Jack 1874 births 1929 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Staten Island Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Grooms players Pittsburgh Pirates players Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers players New York Giants (baseball) players Brooklyn Superbas players Baltimore Orioles (1901–02) players 20th-century American sportsmen Hartford Bluebirds players Pottsville (minor league baseball) players New York Metropolitans (minor league) players Fall River Indians players Bangor Millionaires players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Providence Clamdiggers (baseball) players Providence Grays (minor league) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Reading (baseball) players People from West New Brighton, Staten Island