James Mark Crandall was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Professional baseball

Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

 player, manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 and coach

Coach (baseball)

In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...

. In his only Major League

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 service, Crandall served as a coach on the last St. Louis Browns

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 team in history, the 1953

1953 St. Louis Browns season

The St. Louis Browns season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Browns finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 54 wins and 100 losses, 46½ games behind the AL and World Series champion New York Yankees in their 52nd and final season in the Gateway City...

 edition.

Born in Wadena, Indiana

Wadena, Indiana

Wadena is an unincorporated town in Union Township, Benton County, Indiana. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, he was the son of Doc Crandall, a star pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 with the New York Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 from 1908–1913, and one of the game's top early relief pitcher

Relief pitcher

A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

s. Jim Crandall's professional baseball career was confined to minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

, except for the latter half of the Major League season, when he swapped jobs with Bill Norman

Bill Norman

Henry Willis Patrick "Bill" Norman was an American outfielder, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball. A longtime minor league player and manager, he is best remembered for his brief term as pilot of the Detroit Tigers in 1958-59.Norman was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and served as a...

, who was on the coaching staff of Brownie manager Marty Marion

Marty Marion

Martin Whiteford Marion was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball from to . Marion played with the St. Louis Cardinals for the majority of his career before ending with the St. Louis Browns as a player-manager...

. Crandall had begun the year as skipper of the San Antonio Missions

San Antonio Missions

The San Antonio Missions are a minor league baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres major-league club. The Missions play in Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, located in San Antonio...

 of the Double-A Texas League

Texas League

The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...

, where he lasted into July before taking Norman's old post with the Browns.

Losers of 100 games, St. Louis' last American League

American League

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 entry finished eighth and last, 46½ games behind the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

. Owner Bill Veeck

Bill Veeck

William Louis Veeck, Jr. , also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a franchise owner and promoter in Major League Baseball. He was best known for his publicity stunts to raise attendance. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis...

 was pressured into selling the team to Baltimore interests, who shifted the club to their city for 1954

1954 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1954 Baltimore Orioles season was the franchise's 54th season but its first season as the Baltimore Orioles...

. Marion and Crandall were not retained by the new ownership and management team, and Crandall resumed his minor league career. A switch-hitting catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

 and right-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

, he played in 1932, 1934–1940 and 1945–1947. He managed in 1940 and from 1946–1955, spending much of that time working in the farm systems of the Browns and Cincinnati Redlegs

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

. He died in February 1983 at age 70 in Bullhead City, Arizona

Bullhead City, Arizona

Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, USA, roughly south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the employment for Bullhead City...

, although no specific date of death has been listed.