A baseball Hall of Famer, Joe Cronin’s major league career spanned 20 years. A perennial all-star, he was named Most Valuable Player in the American League in 1930, at age 24, with a batting average of .345. Cronin compiled a lifetime average of .302. He led the Senators to a pennant in 1933 as shortstop and manager and was traded to the Red Sox in 1935, when Tom Yawkey paid the Senator the unprecedented sum of $250,000. He managed the Red Sox to a pennant in 1945. Born and raised in San Francisco, this product of the Columbia Park Boys’ Club was president of the American League from 1959 until 1974.

Inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.

Plaque location: Sacred Heart Preparatory