George Crowe, who played in Negro Leagues and majors, dies at 89

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George Crowe, a former Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball player, died Tuesday night in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, his daughter Adrienne Crowe told the Daily Journal of Franklin, Ind. He was 89.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately known. Crowe had been in an assisted living home since 2008 after a series of strokes.

Crowe was born in 1921 in Whiteland, Ind., and attended Franklin High School. He was selected Indiana’s first Mr. Basketball in 1939.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He played in the Negro National League’s Black Yankees and the Harlem Renaissance of the black professional basketball league.

His nine-year major league career included stints with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. He hit 31 home runs in 1957 for the Reds.

-- Associated Press