Number Two – Joe Cronin
How desperate is desperate in baseball? How about selling your son-in-law off? That is exactly what Calvin Griffith did to the 26-year-old Joe Cronin in 1935 with Joe’s approval. The deal was for $250,000 and a five-year contract for Cronin, who was also to be player-manager for the Red Sox. – a title he also held in Washington. Cronin fully realized the potential of such a windfall to the Senators and advised his father-in-law to take it.
Cronin was generally recognized as an elite player in the American League and represented another addition to the collection of star players that owner Tom Yawkey was purchasing with the intent of winning or buying a championship for the soon to be known “Gold Sox.” Cronin joined Lefty Grove and soon Jimmie Foxx would enter the lineup, but 1935 – Cronin’s first season – the Red Sox finished fourth and that was to become a Red Sox trademark.
Cronin – a hard-hitting right-hander – played 11 seasons for the Red Sox slashing .300/.394/.484 with 119 home runs and 737 RBI. The 11 seasons deserve somewhat of an asterisk as Cronin’s last four years were strictly part-time duty before hanging up the player side of his career in 1945.
Cronin was never viewed as an elite defensive player, but was quite competent with a very basic skill set of having a strong-arm, capable of the double play and an intricate knowledge of positioning himself. A good, but not a great defensive player.
Cronin retired as a manager after the 1947 season, but not from baseball as he became general manager of the Red Sox and eventually American League President.