Warren Cromartie
| Warren Cromartie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outfielder / First baseman | |||
|
Born: September 29, 1953 Miami Beach, Florida |
|||
|
|||
| Professional debut | |||
| MLB: September 6, 1974, for the Montreal Expos | |||
| NPB: April 6, 1984, for the Yomiuri Giants | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| NPB: June 2, 1990, for the Yomiuri Giants | |||
| MLB: September 15, 1991, for the Kansas City Royals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .281 | ||
| Home run | 61 | ||
| Runs batted in | 391 | ||
| NPB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .321 | ||
| Home runs | 171 | ||
| Runs batted in | 558 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Warren Livingston Cromartie (born September 29, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player best remembered for his early career with the Montreal Expos. He and fellow young outfielders Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson were the talk of Major League Baseball (MLB) when they came up together with the Expos in the late seventies. Nicknamed "Cro", he was incredibly popular with the fans in Montreal. He was the 1989 Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award during his career playing baseball in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants.
Cromartie was the only child of Leroy and Marjorie Cromartie. Leroy played quarterback at Florida A&M College, and led his team to Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 1944 and 1945. Having also played basketball and baseball in high school, he left FAMC to play semi-pro baseball with the Miami Giants, which led to a brief stint as a second baseman with the Cincinnati/Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues. After which, Leroy returned to FAMC, and led the Rattlers to another SIAC championship in 1947 and a national championship in 1950.
Upon graduation from Miami Jackson High School in 1971, Cromartie was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of that year's draft, but opted to instead attend Miami Dade College. Following this, he was drafted by three other teams (the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the January 1972 secondary draft, the San Diego Padres in the first round of June 1972 secondary draft, and the Oakland Athletics in the January 1973 secondary draft) but did not sign with any of the clubs. Finally, when the Expos selected him in the first round of the June 1973 secondary draft, he signed. Cromartie batted .336 with thirteen home runs, 61 runs batted in and thirty stolen bases in his first professional season (1974) with the Quebec Carnavals. This performance earned him a September call-up to the major leagues all the way from double A. He went three-for-seventeen with three walks during his short stint with the Expos.
...
Wikipedia