{{Short description|American athlete and coach (1876–1960)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Fred Crolius | image =Fred Crolius on 1898 Dartmouth football team (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption =Crolius on the 1898 Dartmouth football team | birth_date = {{Birth date|1876|12|16}} | birth_place = Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|8|25|1876|4|19}} | death_place = Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_sport1 = Football | player_years2 = 1895–1898 | player_team2 = Dartmouth | player_years3 = 1901 | player_team3 = Homestead Library & Athletic Club | player_years4 = 1902 | player_team4 = Pittsburgh Stars | player_sport5 = Baseball | player_years6 = 1896–1899 | player_team6 = Dartmouth | player_years7 = 1901 | player_team7 = Boston Beaneaters | player_years8 = 1902 | player_team8 = Pittsburgh Pirates | player_positions = Halfback (football)<br>Outfielder (baseball) | coach_sport1 = Football | coach_years2 = 1899 | coach_team2 = Bowdoin | coach_years3 = 1900 | coach_team3 = MIT | coach_years4 = 1902 | coach_team4 = Western U. of Pennsylvania | coach_years5 = 1904–1911 | coach_team5 = Villanova | coach_sport6 = Baseball | coach_years7 = 1905–1911 | coach_team7 = Villanova | overall_record = 22–50–6 (college football)<br>116–45–5 (college baseball) | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = | awards = | coaching_records = }} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Fred Crolius |image=Fred Crolius.jpg |position=Outfielder |bats= Unknown |throws= Unknown |birth_date={{Birth date|1876|4|19}} |birth_place=Jersey City, New Jersey |death_date={{Death date and age|1960|8|25|1876|4|19}} |death_place=Ormond Beach, Florida |debutleague = MLB |debutdate= April 19 |debutyear= 1901 |debutteam=Boston Beaneaters |finalleague = MLB |finaldate= August 30 |finalyear= 1902 |finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates |statleague = MLB |stat1label=At Bats |stat1value=238 |stat2label=Hits |stat2value=58 |stat3label=RBIs |stat3value=20 |teams= '''Player''' * Boston Beaneaters ({{Baseball year|1901}}) * Pittsburgh Pirates ({{Baseball year|1902}}) '''Manager''' * Lancaster Red Roses (1906) }} '''Frederick Joseph Crolius''' (December 16, 1876 – August 25, 1960) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He was the first player from Tufts University to play Major League Baseball. He was at Tufts in 1894, and at Dartmouth College, where he also played college football, from 1896 until 1899. He spent two years in majors with the Boston Beaneaters and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crolius also played pro football with the independent Homestead Library & Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Stars of the first National Football League.<ref name="Carroll">{{cite journal | title=Dave Berry and the Philadelphia Story | journal=The Coffin Corner | publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association | volume=2 | issue=Annual | year=1980 | pages=1–9 | url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf | first=Bob | last=Carroll | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218220541/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/02-An-053.pdf | archive-date=December 18, 2010 }}</ref> He later served as a coach of both sports after his playing career ended.
==Playing career== ===Baseball=== At age 24, he broke into the big leagues on April 19, 1901, with the Boston Beaneaters. Crolius served as the team's fourth outfielder, playing mostly right field, where he backed up Jimmy Slagle. In 1901, his rookie year, he held a batting average of .240 with 1 home run and 13 RBIs. On July 22, 1901, Crolius had four hits which led to three runs scored in a 16–3 win over the Chicago Cubs.
In his second year in the majors, Crolius played for the Pittsburgh Pirates for nine games in 1902, before ending his baseball career. In 1906 he was made ineligible to play with any National club by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues due to a contract dispute with a minor league club from Toronto.<ref name="Sporting">{{cite news|title=Scan This List! Important Notice to Club Owners and Managers|url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/BBM/1908/bbm22t.pdf|date=September 8, 1906|newspaper=Sporting Life}}</ref>
===Football=== In 1898 Fred Crolius was the captain of the Dartmouth football team. He was considered one of the best halfbacks in the game, but received little notice from the media, since Dartmouth was historically seen as having a weak football program.<ref>{{cite news|first=Louis A.|last=Dougher|title=Dartmouth as a Football Factor|publisher=Baseball Magazine|page=41|url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/BBM/1908/bbm22t.pdf|year=1908}}</ref>
In 1901 as a member of the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, located near Pittsburgh, Crolius served as the team's halfback. That year, he scored the tying touchdown against the Blondy Wallace's Philadelphia Athletic Club. Homestead won the game 6–5; touchdowns were worth five points in 1901.<ref>{{cite web|title=And Yet Again: Temple's Last Year 1901|publisher=The Professional Football Researchers Association|url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Articles/And_Yet_Again.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929171508/http://profootballresearchers.org/Articles/And_Yet_Again.pdf|archive-date=September 29, 2010}}</ref>
In 1902, Crolius served as a halfback on the Pittsburgh Stars, a member of first National Football League that was suspected of being financed by baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davids |first=L. Robert |year=1987 |title=23 Guys With Hobbies |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-07-307.pdf |journal=The Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |volume=9 |number=7 |page=2 |access-date=February 18, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127053218/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/09-07-307.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During the 1902 season, the Stars won the league championship.<ref name="Carroll"/>
==Coaching career== ===Baseball=== After his playing career, Crolius served as the coach the Villanova Wildcats baseball team from 1905 until 1911. While with Villanova, acquired a 116–45–5 record.<ref>{{cite web|title=Villanova Coaching History|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nova/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/history.pdf|publisher=Villanova Wildcats Baseball|year=2003|page=25|access-date=January 17, 2013|archive-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112062048/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nova/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/history.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also served as the manager of the Lancaster Red Roses, where he guided the team to a 70–58 record in 1906.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Rose By Any Other Name|url=http://www.lancasterhistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373&Itemid=178|access-date=January 17, 2013|publisher=Lancaster County's Historical Society}}</ref>
===Football=== In 1899, he also served as the head coach for the Bowdoin College football team. He guided Bowdoin to a 2–6 record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://athletics.bowdoin.edu/records/fbhistory.pdf?dec=|title=Bowdoin College Football History|access-date=January 13, 2013|publisher=Bowdoin College}}</ref> In 1902, Crolius was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers football team. That year the team racked up a 5–6–1 record.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pittsburgh Football History Database|url=http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/pittsburgh_database.htm|publisher=National Champs.net|access-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> Crolius then coached the Villanova Wildcats to an 18–38–5 record between 1904 and 1911.
==Head coaching record== ===College football=== {{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Bowdoin Polar Bears | conf = Independent | startyear = 1899 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1899 | name = Bowdoin | overall = 2–6 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Bowdoin | overall = 2–6 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Western University of Pennsylvania | conf = Independent | startyear = 1902 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1902 | name = Western University of Pennsylvania | overall = 5–6–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Western University of Pennsylvania | overall = 5–6–1 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Villanova Wildcats | conf = Independent | startyear = 1904 | endyear = 1911 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1904 | name = Villanova | overall = 4–2–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1905 | name = Villanova | overall = 3–7 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1906 | name = Villanova | overall = 3–7 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1907 | name = Villanova | overall = 1–5–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1908 | name = Villanova | overall = 1–6 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1909 | name = Villanova | overall = 3–2 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1910 | name = Villanova | overall = 0–4–2 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1911 | name = Villanova | overall = 0–5–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Villanova | overall = 15–38–5 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record End | overall = 22–50–6 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = | legend = no }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Baseballstats | br=c/crolifr01|brm=croliu001fre }}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box | title=Lancaster Red Roses Managers | before=None | years=1906 | after=Pop Foster}} {{s-end}}
{{Navboxes |list = {{Bowdoin Polar Bears football coach navbox}} {{Pittsburgh Panthers football coach navbox}} {{Villanova Wildcats football coach navbox}} {{Villanova Wildcats baseball coach navbox}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crolius, Fred}} Category:1876 births Category:1960 deaths Category:19th-century players of American football Category:American football halfbacks Category:Boston Beaneaters players Category:Homestead Library & Athletic Club players Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players Category:Pittsburgh Stars players Category:Bowdoin Polar Bears football coaches Category:Dartmouth Big Green baseball players Category:Dartmouth Big Green football players Category:MIT Engineers football coaches Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Category:Villanova Wildcats baseball coaches Category:Villanova Wildcats football coaches Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:Norwich Reds players Category:Springfield Ponies players Category:Lancaster Red Roses players Category:Tufts University alumni Category:Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey Category:Baseball players from Jersey City, New Jersey