skip navigation

BOB CRUES - INDUCTEE #35

hall of fame fast fact:

Legend has it that as a child, Bob Crues was walking along the railroad tracks when he stopped to give directions to a man and a woman who appeared to be lost, according to author Bob Rives. They turned out to be the infamous outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde.

Bob Crues

When Bob Crues was 3, he climbed a windmill, stuck his right hand in a water pump, and lost most of his right index finger; he later developed an excellent curve ball.

Crues went 20-5 for the Borger Gassers in 1940 and was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1941.

The 6’2”, 185-pounder hit .341 with 29 home runs and 120 RBI in 1946. In 1947, he hit .380 and 52 home runs, driving in 178. He hit .404 with an .848 slugging percentage in the record-setting 1948. Crues drove in 254 runs while playing for the Amarillo Gold Sox in 1948; he drove in almost two runs per game that season. Nobody in the major or minor leagues has bettered that mark.

After World War II, he lived in Roswell, Lubbock, Amarillo, and Borger before retiring in 1953.

He suffered a stroke in 1964 and died in 1986 at age 67.