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Thursday, July 12, 2007

AP: Longtime NL umpire Shag Crawford dead

Longtime major league umpire Shag Crawford, patriarch of a family of prominent sports officials, died Wednesday. He was 90.

Jerry Crawford said his father died at an assisted living facility in suburban Philadelphia. “For someone who was going to be 91 in August, he was in pretty good health for a long time,” Crawford said by telephone.

Jerry Crawford became a big league umpire in the mid-1970s, around the time his brother, Joey, became an NBA official.
...
Born Henry Charles Crawford, Shag called more than 3,000 games as a National League umpire from 1956-75. He worked the World Series three times, the NL championship series twice and handled three All-Star games… Crawford, one of the founders of the umpires’ union, ended his active career in 1975 after getting into a dispute with baseball over the rotation of umpires in the World Series.

NTNgod Posted: July 12, 2007 at 03:49 AM | 7 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: history, obituaries

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1. SantoFan Posted: July 12, 2007 at 05:01 AM (#2438062)

Anyone know how he got the nickname "Shag"? Kind of unusual, was just wondering from whence it came.

2. JoeHova Posted: July 12, 2007 at 05:47 AM (#2438078)

That's a shame. Obviously anybody would be happy to make it to 90, but he seemed to still have all his faculties when he was interviewed on RealSports a couple months ago. He seemed like a good guy, though I'm not old enough to remember him umpiring. Bad year for the Crawfords with Shag dying and Joey getting fired.

3. kthejoker Posted: July 12, 2007 at 01:58 PM (#2438221)

According to Biographical Dictionary of American Sports, it was given to him by his semipro teammates because of his "shaggy" clothes. Also, he was on the Walke when it was kamikaze'd.

4. RMc is the loyal supporter of the MLB event Posted: July 12, 2007 at 11:46 PM (#2438966)

There's no mention of Crawford here at all.

5. NTNgod Posted: July 13, 2007 at 12:09 AM (#2439053)

AP: Nickname always suited Shag

As a sandlot catcher, Henry Crawford was too busy playing ball to worry about the clothes he wore off the field. As a result, his pals gave him a nickname -- "Shaggy."

Later, it got shortened and the new version stuck.
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"Let's just say some of the things he put on weren't always of the finest quality. He had things with holes in them, it didn't bother him," son Jerry Crawford said Thursday.

"He liked when people called him Shag. I think he'd want that on his tombstone as his middle name," he said. "He liked that handle."

6. Eraser-X is emphatically dominating teh site!!! Posted: July 13, 2007 at 02:06 PM (#2439836)

Best umpire whose name was a command.

7. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: July 13, 2007 at 02:09 PM (#2439839)

Didn't Steve Crawford get nicknamed Shag because of him?

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

AP: Longtime NL umpire Shag Crawford dead

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