JIm Crane
Baseball Student-Athlete
Central Missouri (1973-75)
A graduate of Lutheran North High School in St. Louis, Crane was a dominant pitcher for the Mules in the 1970s. He had a four-year career record of 21-8 with an earned run average of 2.42. His best season was in 1974, when he helped lead the Mules to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA College Division and was named the MIAA Most Valuable Player. He was 7-2 that season with a 1.86 ERA and 77 strikeouts. He finished 2nd in Division II that season with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings. With Crane on the mound, the Mules beat then Mankato State 5-2 at the Midwest Regional in Mankato, Minnesota en route to the first of now 16 regional titles for Mules baseball.
In the Mules’ opening game of the College Division World Series in Springfield, Illinois against Ohio Northern, Crane struck out 11 straight batters and set the Mules’ single-game strikeout record with 18K’s in a 2-0 shutout win. That 1974 Mules’ team was inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Crane was an honorable mention All-America and first-team All-MIAA selection in 1974 and 1975.
Despite his teams playing an average of only 29 games per season, he ranks first in the Mules’ baseball record book in career complete games with 23 and career shutouts with seven. Crane ranks third in career strikeouts with 215, and is in the top ten in career wins with 21, career earned run average at 2.42 and career innings pitched with 216. He is one of only two pitchers in Mules’ history to be ranked in the top 10 in career wins, ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched. He was inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.
Crane is now CEO and President of Crane Capital Group, and is the owner of Champion Energy Services and owner of Crane Worldwide Logistics, a premier provider of customized transportation and logistics services. He became the fifth owner of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball Franchise in November, 2011. In 1996, Crane provided the funding for the construction of the Mules baseball facility, now known as Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field to honor his late coach, Bob Tompkins. He has continued his generous support of numerous projects in support of Mules baseball since that time.