Del Crandall, 1930-2021

Baseball card photos have frequently been taken

on teams' visits to New York, because Topps

is headquartered in New York.

This one was taken at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

I had decided to update my "Last Survivor" posts, and was in the process of doing so, when I found out that a particular last survivor survived no more. We can no close the book on the Boston Braves.

Delmar Wesley Crandall was born on March 5, 1930, in Ontario, California, outside San Bernardino. He grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Fullerton. A catcher, he was signed by the Boston Braves, and made his major league debut for them on June 17, 1949, only 19 years old, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Wearing Number 23, he pinch-ran for Bill Salkeld in the 9th inning, and didn't advance. The Braves lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2.

Del batted .263 over the rest of the season, finishing 2nd in the National League's Rookie of the Year voting to Don Newcombe of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He didn't hit as well in 1950, and then missed the next 2 seasons, serving in the Korean War. Just before his induction, he and his high school girlfriend, Frances Sorrels, went to Las Vegas and eloped. They would eventually have 6 children: Del Jr., Ron, Billy, Jeff, Tim and Nancy.

When he returned for the 1953 season, he was 23, ready to be the Braves' starting catcher, switched to wearing Number 1, and was joining them in their move to Milwaukee. The team was transformed by more than its move, and the big crowds that came to Milwaukee County Stadium: Some big new talent had either arrived during his absence, or was about to.

Eddie Mathews had become a superstar at 3rd base. The Braves had traded Johnny Sain to the Yankees for Lew Burdette, who replaced Sain as the righthanded complement to Warren Spahn, then the game's best lefthanded pitcher. And in 1954, a young outfielder named Hank Aaron reached the major leagues.

Del was named team Captain in 1954. "He is like a coach on the field," said Braves pitcher Carl Willey. "He can spot a flaw in my motion as soon as it shows up." Joe L. Brown, then general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, said, "Crandall is the best all-around catcher in the League." That was a big statement to make, given that Roy Campanella was still playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But Del backed it up: He made the NL All-Star Team the next 4 seasons, and in 8 of the next 10. He peaked with 26 home runs in 1955, 77 runs batted in in 1960, and a batting average of .297 in 1962.

In 1957, Del helped the Braves win the World Series, Milwaukee's 1st major league Pennant and its 1st World Championship in any sport, the Braves franchise's 1st World Series win since 1914. As Aaron later did, Crandall admitted that the Braves were a little intimidated, but more by historic Yankee Stadium than by the Yankees themselves. They overcame it, and won in 7 games, with Burdette pitching a shutout in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. Crandall provided an insurance run with a solo homer in the top of the 8th.

They won the Pennant again in 1958, but lost the World Series, as the Yankees got revenge. "It took a while for us to get over our loss in 1958," Crandall said. "I thought we'd get back and win it in 1959." But Red Schoendienst was stricken with tuberculosis, and his replacements at 2nd base never found their rhythm. The Braves and finished in a tie for the Pennant in 1959, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and lost a Playoff. Milwaukee has won just 1 Pennant since.

The Braves had finished just 1 game back in 1956. They were close to being a dynasty: 2 games short of 4 straight Pennants. “We would be looked at as a team a lot differently if we would have been able to pull it off,” Crandall said. “We were close. We weren’t ready to win in 1956, and did not have the personnel in 1959.”

The Gold Gloves for fielding excellence were first awarded in 1957, and Crandall won the NL's award for catchers in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1962.

Only 33 years old, he had a major dropoff in the 1963 season, going from his highest full-season batting average to just .201. Joe Torre replaced him as the Braves' starting catcher. He never had another full season, and played 3 more years, with 3 different teams: San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. He was done at 36, with a lifetime batting average of .254 and 179 home runs -- although those are decent totals for a catcher in that era. At the time, his 175 homers for a catcher in NL play ranked 4th all-time, behind Roy Campanella (242), Gabby Hartnett (236) and Ernie Lombardi (190).

In a weird turn of events, he caught 3 no-hitters, and all were against the Philadelphia Phillies: By Jim Wilson in 1954, and by Lew Burdette and Warren Spahn in 1960. It's also worth noting that Crandall and Spahn started 316 games together, the 2nd-most of any "battery" since 1990, behind Bill Freehan and Mickey Lolich.

The Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966. In 1969, Crandall managed the Albuquerque Dodgers, and played 1 game. He managed them to the Texas League Pennant in 1970, and played 2 games. In 1972, he returned to Milwaukee as the manager of their new team, the Brewers, and remained with them through 1975.

He went to the organization of the team then known as the California Angels, and led the Salinas Angels to the Pennant in the Class A California League in 1976. He served as the major league Angels' 1st base coach in 1977. The Dodgers took him back, returning him to the team now known as the Albuquerque Dukes, and he managed them to 4 Pacific Coast League Pennants in 5 years, helping build the Dodger team that would win 4 Division titles and 2 World Series in the 1980s.

But as long as he was in the Dodger organization, he was not going to dislodge Tommy Lasorda as their manager. In 1983 and '84, he managed the Seattle Mariners. Ironically, when he was fired, he was replaced by Chuck Cottier, whom he had asked Braves management to bring up to the majors in 1959 to replace the ailing Schoendienst. 

He became a broadcaster with the Chicago White Sox from 1985 to 1988, and with the Brewers from 1992 to 1994. He remained in the Dodger organization as a catching instructor, and his last managing job was in their farm system, with the San Bernardino Stampede of the Class A California League, from 1995 to 1997.

Del Crandall died on May 5, 2021, at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brea, California. He was 91 years old, and no cause of death has yet been revealed, although he was not known to be ill. He was the last living former Boston Brave, a legend of the Milwaukee Braves, and admired throughout baseball.