George Crowe

Who was George Crowe?

George Daniel Crowe was a Major League first baseman. He attended Franklin High School in Franklin, Indiana, graduated from Indiana Central College, now the University of Indianapolis, in 1943 and played baseball and basketball. He was the first Indiana "Mr. Basketball". He was a first baseman with a nine-year career from 1952–1953, 1955–1961 and played for the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Redlegs and St. Louis Cardinals. Crowe hit 31 home runs in 1957, filling in most of the season for the injured Ted Kluszewski.

Crowe also played with the Negro National League's New York Black Yankees in 1948, and played professional basketball for the barnstorming New York Renaissance Big Five. In 1947 Crowe played basketball for the integrated Los Angeles Red Devils, a team that also included future Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson.

He was elected to the National League All-Star team in 1958, although Crowe was not used in the All-Star Game. Coincidentally, the year before, fans of his team — the Cincinnati Redlegs — had been involved in a ballot stuffing campaign to put all of the team's regulars in the starting lineup.