SABR 41: RIP Dick Crago
LIVE FROM LONG BEACH — We’re sad to note the recent passing of longtime SABR member Richard Leon Crago, who was better known as the longtime “Voice” of Holman Stadium, the Dodgers’ legendary spring training home at Vero Beach, Florida.
Dick Crago, 85, passed away on July 1 after a battle with cancer at his home in Vero Beach. He was the public address announcer at Holman Stadium from 1969 until the Dodgers left for Glendale, Arizona, in 2008.
Crago was a member of SABR’s Auker-Seminick Chapter in Central Florida and served as a moderator at many events held by that chapter.
Fay Vincent, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball and a fellow SABR member, recalled Crago at TCPalm.com on July 4:
“His careful diction and strong baritone voice became a central part of those delightful games when baseball emerged from the winter cocoon. … Like many of his many friends and virtually every former Dodger I will miss him and his store of precious baseball stories. …
“In my experience he was liked by virtually everyone with whom he came in contact in baseball in large measure, I believe, because he was totally without pretense and as gentle in spirit as any man I have known. He was an imposing man but he was civil and courteous, befitting the Southern gentleman. It was sometimes difficult to reconcile the former infantryman with the almost diffident gentleman with whom I enjoyed so many fine luncheon discussions. Like many bright people, Dick was a careful listener and a good questioner. As the Brits say, he was good value.”
After serving in the United States Army in Italy from 1944-46, Crago graduated from the University of Florida and called football games as a student broadcaster. He later broadcast games for Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi, and is believed to be the only play-by-play announcer for three original Southeastern Conference teams.
Crago was also the longtime owner of the WAXE radio station in Vero Beach.
The longtime Vero Beach resident was married to his wife, Harriett, for 64 years.
Information on funeral services can be found on his obituary page at Legacy.com.
— Jacob Pomrenke
Originally published: July 6, 2011. Last Updated: April 17, 2020.
