Tim Crews

Who was Tim Crews?

Stanley Timothy Crews was a Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- 1987 to 1992. He was granted free agency after the 1992 season and signed with the Cleveland Indians on January 22, 1993.

Crews never played a regular season game for his new team. During spring training for his seventh season, Crews was killed in a boating accident on Little Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. The accident also killed teammate and fellow reliever Steve Olin. Teammate Bob Ojeda was severely injured in the accident as well. The accident occurred about one hour after sunset when Crews drove the boat at high speed into an unlighted dock. Crews was later found to have had a blood alcohol level of 0.14. It was the first death of active major league players during a season since Thurman Munson in 1979.

In 281 games, almost all in relief, he was 11-13 with 83 games finished and 15 saves. For his career, Crews compiled a 3.44 earned run average in 423⅔ innings.

In response to the accident that took Steve Olin and Crews in 1993, the Indians wore a patch on the sleeves of their jerseys. It consisted of a baseball with their numbers on it. Olin's #31 is on the left with an arrow above. Crews' #52 is on the right with a star above it. The Dodgers also wore a patch with Crews' #52 for the 1993 season.