Monte Cross

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Monte Cross

|image=CrossMonte photo1.jpg

|position=Shortstop

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1869|8|31|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1934|6|21|1869|8|31}}

|death_place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 27

|debutyear=1892

|debutteam=Baltimore Orioles

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 4

|finalyear=1907

|finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.234

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=31

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=621

|teams=

Baltimore Orioles ({{baseball year|1892}}–{{baseball year|1893}})
Pittsburgh Pirates ({{baseball year|1894}}–{{baseball year|1895}})
St. Louis Browns (NL) ({{baseball year|1896}})
Philadelphia Phillies ({{baseball year|1897}}–{{baseball year|1901}})
Philadelphia Athletics ({{baseball year|1902}}–{{baseball year|1907}})

}}

Montford Montgomery Cross (August 31, 1869 – June 21, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played fifteen seasons in the majors, between {{baseball year|1892}} and {{baseball year|1907}}, for five different teams.

Baseball career

Cross played most of his career in Philadelphia, where he was the starting shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies from {{baseball year|1898}} until {{baseball year|1901}}. At that point, he jumped to the new American League and the crosstown Philadelphia Athletics. He was their starting shortstop from {{baseball year|1902}} until {{baseball year|1904}}, including the 1902 team that won the American League pennant in the year before the World Series began play.

After batting just .189 in {{baseball year|1904}}, Cross relinquished the starting role to 19-year-old rookie John Knight for much of {{baseball year|1905}}, when the Athletics won their second pennant. After batting .266 in his part-time role, Cross regained the starting role in {{baseball year|1906}} when Knight was moved to third base to replace Lave Cross. However, he batted just .200, and was replaced as the starter again in {{baseball year|1907}}, this time by Simon Nicholls.

His major league career ended that season, but Monte Cross remained in baseball, playing in three minor leagues from 1908 to 1911. He umpired 141 games in the Federal League during the 1914 season. In 1915, Cross played semiprofessionally for the Media, Pennsylvania, team in the Delaware County League at age 46.{{cite book

|last=Lanctot

|first=Neil

|year=1994

|title=Fair Dealing and Clean Playing: the Hilldale Club and the development of black professional baseball, 1910–1932

|place=Jefferson, North Carolina

|publisher=McFarland

|isbn=0-89950-988-6

|page=[https://archive.org/details/fairdealingclean00lanc/page/10 10]

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/fairdealingclean00lanc/page/10

}}

College baseball

Cross coached the Maine Black Bears baseball team from 1916–1921, the longest tenure of any coach to that point in the program's history. In his six seasons, Maine had a record of 33-33-3. An April 1916 article in the Lewiston Daily Sun said of Cross, "His easy-going, but nevertheless strict instructions and discipline, together with the knowledge of the inside features of the National game, and the manner in which he teaches them, make an everlasting impression on the students, players, and managers."{{cite news|title=Monte Cross Is Well Liked as Coach of University of Maine Baseball Team|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19160407&id=laYgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5190,502805|access-date=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Lewiston Daily Sun|date=April 7, 1916|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709151905/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19160407&id=laYgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MGkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5190,502805|archive-date=July 9, 2019|url-status=live|page=9}}

=Head coaching record=

Below is a table of Cross's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.{{cite web|title=2014 Maine Baseball Guide|url=http://issuu.com/maineathletics/docs/14mainebaseball|publisher=Maine Athletic Media Relations|access-date=June 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325064521/http://issuu.com/maineathletics/docs/14mainebaseball|archive-date=March 25, 2015|url-status=live|page=36}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Maine Black Bears

| conference = no

| startyear = 1916

| endyear = 1921

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1916

| name = Maine

| overall = 8–4–2

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1917

| name = Maine

| overall = 2–4

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1918

| name = Maine

| overall = 3–5

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1919

| name = Maine

| overall = 8–5

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1920

| name = Maine

| overall = 7–5

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| season = 1921

| name = Maine

| overall = 5–10–1

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record end

| overall = 33–33–3

| legend = no

}}

Sports radio

In 1923, Cross hosted a show called "Real Baseball Dope" on WIP in Philadelphia, on Mondays and Fridays at 6:45 PM. The show had a run time of fifteen minutes.{{Cite journal |date=September 29, 1923 |title=This Week's Headliners on the Air |journal=Radio Digest - Illustrated |volume=VI |issue=12}}