[Deathwatch] Frank Crosetti, baseball player, 91

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Former Yankee Crosetti Dies at 91 
Wed Feb 13, 1:51 AM ET 
By PAUL GLADER, Associated Press Writer 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Frank Crosetti came from the same Italian-American
neighborhood as Joe DiMaggio and wore New York Yankees pinstripes for
36 years.

Crosetti, who died Monday night at 91, played shortstop for 17 seasons
in New York, alongside Yankees greats including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig
and Joe DiMaggio, then coached third base for 20 more years. He
collected enough World Series rings for all his fingers and toes, as
Yankees manager Joe Torre once joked.

"He was Yankee all the way around. We had no other team. He only played
with the Yankees," said his wife of 63 years, Norma.

Crosetti, who remained remarkably healthy late in life, died of
complications from a fall in early January, Norma Crosetti said.

Playing on eight Yankees World Series championship teams from 1932 to
1948, Crosetti had a career batting average of .245 with 98 home runs
and 649 runs batted in.

His best year may have been 1938, when he led the American League with
27 stolen bases. His 757 plate appearances that year set a major league
record for a 154-game season.

"He was a true Yankee," said the team's spokesman, Rick Cerrone.

Nicknamed "the Crow," Crosetti was known for old-school tactics such as
stealing the opposing team's signs from the dugout, hiding a baseball
to tag out a base runner and getting on base by purposely getting hit
by pitches.

He was also present for some of baseball's major events, including
Ruth's home run in the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Crosetti claimed Ruth wasn't calling his shot, but pointing to the
Chicago bench. He was also there for Lou Gehrig's good-bye in 1939, and
for the last time Ruth put on his No. 3 uniform in 1948.

After retiring in 1948, Crosetti was the Yankees' third-base coach for
20 years, taking part in 15 more World Series.

"He didn't take the game home with him, win or lose," said his son,
John Crosetti of San Diego. "Losses didn't bother him. He was a Yankee.
He expected to win the World Series, and they kind of did."

Crosetti was born Oct. 4, 1910, in San Francisco, where he grew up in
North Beach, where the DiMaggio brothers — Joe, Vince and Dominic —
also lived.

As a boy, Crosetti sometimes played doubleheader sandlot games,
starting at his North Beach neighborhood before hopping on a bus to
Oakland for more competition. Later, he'd do the same for the minor
league Seals in doubleheaders against the rival Oakland Oaks.

Another Italian-American from San Francisco, Tony Lazzeri, made it to
the Yankees first, followed by Crosetti and five years later by
DiMaggio.

He rarely opened up with reporters, and in retirement, seemed to prefer
hunting and fishing to baseball. "He preferred being low-key and out of
the spotlight," his son said.

Still, he graciously gave autographs when fans stopped by his house or
approached him at games, and he never charged, his son said.

Crosetti would often stop by the Yankees clubhouse when the team
visited the Bay Area to play the Athletics. He and his wife attended
one Yankees game in Oakland this year before his eyesight started to
fail.