JOE CRONIN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 11/02/1959 - HFSID 143945

JOE CRONIN
Joe Cronin sends a typed letter enclosing a report.
Typed Letter Signed: "Joe", 1p, 7¼x10½. Boston, Massachusetts, 1959 November 2. On letterhead of The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs to Mr. Calvin R. Griffith, President, Washington Baseball Club, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. Begins: "Dear Calvin". In full: "Enclosed [not present] find report from George Trautman which is self-explanatory. Kindest personal regards." Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Cronin, who served two terms as the American League's President (through January 1974), had been the A.L.'s All-Star shortstop seven times and enjoyed eight 100-RBI seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the age of 27, he had won the 1933 pennant as the Senators' rookie Manager before being traded to the Boston Red Sox. His #4 was retired by the Red Sox on May 29, 1984, just over three months before Cronin's death in September of that year. In 1984, CALVIN R. GRIFFITH sold his Minnesota Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad for $38 million. Griffith, the adopted son of his uncle, Clark Griffith, who had purchased the Senators in 1919, had been a batboy for the team during the 1924-1925 seasons. In 1941, he was tapped to oversee concession sales at Senators' games, and in 1955, he inherited majority ownership of the team upon Clark Griffith's death. Unfortunately, the 1959 Washington Senators ranked near or at the bottom of the league in all offensive categories, although Griffith had made room in the line-up that season for a youngster named Harmon Killebrew, whose power hitting was the team's major strength. Staple holes at upper left corner. Fold creases affecting "J" of Joe. Fine condition.