Ray Crone

Raymond Hayes Crone (born August 7, 1931 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA) was a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Braves from 1954 to 1957 and the New York/San Francisco Giants from 1957 to 1958.

Early life and career

Prior to playing professionally, Crone attended Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

He signed a professional contract with the Boston Braves in 1949 at the age of 17 and began his professional career that season. He was used primarily as a starting pitcher in his early minor league career, reaching win totals as high as 19, accomplishing that in 1953 with the Jacksonville Braves.

Major league career

Crone made his major league debut on April 13, 1954 at age 22. He spent 19 games with the big league club, starting two of them and going 1-0 with a 2.02 ERA in 49 innings of work. Of all pitchers on the team that season, he had the second-lowest ERA (trailing only Charlie Gorin's 1.86).^[1] He also spent 14 games in the minor leagues that season.

With the Braves in 1955, Crone went 10-9 with a 3.46 ERA in 33 games (15 starts). In 140¹⁄₃ innings, he allowed only 117 hits. Though he spent time in the minors in 1955, it was a short stint – only four games.

He went 11-10 with a 3.87 ERA in 35 games in 1956. Crone began the 1957 season with the Braves, going 3-1 with a 4.46 ERA in 11 games (five starts). On June 15, he was traded with Danny O'Connell and Bobby Thomson to the New York Giants for Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst. He went 4-8 with a 4.33 ERA with the Giants that year, and went a combined 7-9 with a 4.36 ERA.

Crone played his final major league season in 1958, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 14 games (one start). On July 15 of that year, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Don Johnson. He finished the season in the minor leagues, playing his final big league game on July 14.

Later career

Crone pitched in the minors until 1961, when he was 29 years old. In each of the final three seasons of his minor league career, Crone did not post a winning percentage over .444.^[2]

He later became a scout, based in Texas and working for the Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles and currently the San Diego Padres.^[3] His son, Ray Jr., is a scout for the Detroit Tigers, and formerly worked in that capacity for the Orioles and Boston Red Sox.^[4]

Career totals

Over the course of his five-year major league career, Crone went 30-30 with a 3.87 ERA in 137 games (61 starts). In 546 innings, he struck out 260 batters and walked 173.

He spent 11 seasons in the minors, going 90-77 in 244 games.

References

External links

• Baseball Gauge
• Baseball Reference
• Baseball Reference (Minor Leagues)
• Retrosheet
• SABR BioProject
• Venezuelan Professional Baseball League