Samuel Earl Crawford (April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968), nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg). Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, he had a short minor league baseball career before rapidly rising to the majors with the Cincinnati Reds in 1899. He played for the Reds until 1902.
Taking advantage of the competition for players between the National League and the then-ascendant American League, Crawford then joined the Detroit Tigers and played for Detroit, primarily in right field, from 1903 to 1917.
He was one of the greatest sluggers of his era, leading his league in home runs twice and in runs batted in three times. He still holds the MLB record for most career triples with 309, a record likely never to be broken.
While with the Tigers, Crawford played alongside superstar Ty Cobb, and the two had an intense rivalry while also helping Detroit win three American League championships from 1907 to 1909.
After his MLB career ended, Crawford moved to California, where he lived the rest of his life. He was a player and umpire in the Pacific Coast League and was a coach at the University of Southern California. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.
Crawford was born in Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1880, the son of Stephen O. Crawford (born 1842 in Vermont) and Nellie Crawford (born 1855 in Iowa). In 1901, he married Ada M. Lattin, born circa 1881 in Nebraska. He was listed as a ballplayer in 1910, and had one daughter, Virginia, born circa 1905 in Michigan. Various ship records confirm his birthdate and that of wife Ada. As of the 1920 U.S. census the family was living in Los Angeles, with other records establishing Samuel having arrived March 15, 1918.
According to a biography from the Nebraska Hall of Fame, Crawford was a star athlete at Wahoo High School, leading the team to two state football championships in 1896 and 1897 and was also noted for "foot racing" wherever he played. In 1898, he joined a traveling baseball team in Wahoo. They traveled on a lumber wagon from town to town for weeks at a time, challenging the locals to baseball games, and passing the hat to pay their expenses. Crawford was offered an opportunity in the spring of 1899 to play for the Chatham Reds of the Canadian League for $65 per month, plus board. Crawford seized the opportunity and left behind his job as a barber's apprentice. From Chatham, Crawford moved on to play for the Grand Rapids Prodigals in the Western League.
In September 1899, Grand Rapids sold Crawford to the Cincinnati Reds. Crawford played in 31 games for the Reds at the end of the 1899 season. At age 19, and one year removed from his days playing for Wahoo's traveling team, Crawford was playing in the major leagues with future Hall of Famers Jake Beckley and Bid McPhee. Crawford hit .307 in 31 games with the Reds in 1899. In 1900, at age 20, he played in 101 games and was among the National League leaders in triples with 15 and home runs with seven.
Crawford was one of the best sluggers in baseball in 1901, batting .330 and hitting a major league leading 16 home runs. He was also third in the National League in triples (16), RBIs (104) and slugging percentage (.524). Crawford had another solid year in 1902, leading the National League in total bases (256) and triples (22), and placing second in batting average (.333), slugging percentage (.461) and extra base hits (43). He hit 12 inside-the-park home runs in 1901 – a major league record that has never been equaled.
At the end of 1902, a bidding war for players developed between the National League and American League. Crawford signed contracts with both the Reds and the Detroit Tigers. The competing contracts led to a publicized legal dispute, with a judge ultimately awarding Crawford to the Tigers but requiring $3,000 in compensation to the Reds.
Crawford joined the Tigers for the 1903 season and remained there until the end of his major league career in 1917. In 1903, he led the American League with 25 triples, and finished second in the batting race with a .335 batting average.
With the addition of Ty Cobb at the end of the 1905 season, the Tigers had two of the best hitters in baseball. Cobb and Crawford led Detroit to three straight American League pennants in 1907, 1908 and 1909, but both of them slumped in their World Series appearances, as the Tigers lost all three. Crawford hit for a .243 average in three World Series, and Cobb hit an uncharacteristic .200 in the 1907 World Series and .231 in the 1909 World Series.
Although Crawford never got to play in another World Series, he remained one of the most feared hitters in baseball through 1915. In 1911, he hit a career-high .378 with 115 RBIs and 57 extra base hits. From 1913 to 1915, Crawford played in 472 consecutive games for the Tigers. Crawford was among the American League leaders in hits, RBIs, extra base hits, slugging percentage and total bases every year from 1905 to 1915. He led the American League in triples five times, including an American League record 26 triples in 1914. On August 23, 1913, Crawford hit his record-breaking 245th career triple in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees. He remains the all-time major league leader, retiring with 309 triples in his career.
Though his defense suffered in his later years, Crawford was a good fielder in his prime. In 1900, his range factor was 2.68 – 55 points higher than the league average of 2.13. In 1905, he led all American League outfielders with a .988 fielding percentage – 35 points higher than the league average.
Despite Crawford leading the league in both RBI (112) and extra base hits (54) in 1915, the Tigers began transitioning the right field responsibilities from Crawford to their young hitting star, future Baseball Hall of Famer Harry Heilmann in 1916. That year, Crawford played 78 games in right field, and Heilmann played 66, with Crawford's plate appearances cut almost in half from 694 to 368.
In 1917, Crawford lost his spot in the lineup altogether and was relegated principally to a pinch-hitting role. In his new limited role, Crawford hit .173 in 104 at bats. At the end of the 1917 season, Crawford was released and did not play in Major League Baseball again.
Crawford was one of the greatest sluggers of the dead-ball era. He still holds the major league records for triples in a career (309) and inside-the-park home runs in a season (12). He has the second most inside-the-park home runs in a career (51), and the remarkable distinction of hitting more triples than doubles four times in his career: 22 to 18 in 1902, 25 to 23 in 1903, 26 to 22 in 1914, and 13 to 11 in 1916, the last at the ripe old age for a ballplayer of his era of 36.
Crawford became the first player to lead both the National League and American League in home runs (1901 and 1908). He was among the AL leaders in hits, RBI, extra base hits, slugging percentage and total bases for 11 consecutive years, from 1905 to 1915. Using Baseball-Reference.com's "Gray Ink Test", which awards points based on how often a player is among the league batting leaders, Crawford ranks as the ninth in baseball history. He finished his career with 2,961 hits and a .309 batting average. He ranks fifth on the Detroit Tigers all-time hits list with 2,466 hits as a Tiger.