This Negro Leaguer played pro basketball as a center and forward for Dayton of the NBL before joining the Boston Braves. The 6’2″ 210-lb lefthanded batter supplied ten of Cincinnati’s league record-tying 221 homers in 1956. As the Reds’ regular first baseman, Crowe hit 31 HR in 1957, and was an All-Star in 1958. But Crowe was traded to St. Louis, where Stan Musial was manning first in 1959; Crowe, instead, led the NL with 17 pinch hits.
