John Charles Crooks (November 9, 1865 – February 2, 1918) 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

born in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

. He played mainly as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

, 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 batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

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, organic) or a non-living substance (inorganic). Fouling is usually distinguished from other surfac ...

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, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

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 Columbu ...

of the American Association 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 Do ...

of the

Brooklyn Dodgers 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 Brook ...

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

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

, he walked a league-leading 136 times put his

(OBP) at .400, good for fifth in

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 ...

. He also became the Major League single-season record holder in that category, a title he held until Jimmy Sheckard walked 147 times in

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

. 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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, 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 since 1920. It contrasts with the pre-1920 period known as the " dead-ball era". The name "live-ball era" comes from the dramatic rise in offensive ...

in 1920. In addition to playing for Columbus, Crooks also had stints with the Washington Senators,

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

, and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

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

, 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 St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

and was interred at Valhalla Cemetery.Baseball Almanac player page
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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 19th-century American sportsmen 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

See also

References

External links