Cronkright has had remarkable baseball, softball career

If you ask Midland’s Dan Cronkright, the best way to learn a sport isn’t necessarily in a league or at a clinic or a camp. It might be as simple as playing in your backyard.

“I grew up in a family of seven boys, and we all played baseball growing up. We lived in the country, and we played a whole lot of backyard baseball,” said Cronkright, 50, who will be inducted into the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame during a ceremony on May 10 at Dow Diamond, beginning at 6 p.m.

“And it didn’t really matter the sport; we just played sports every day,” Cronkright added. “We played baseball all summer long. ... We competed in the backyard every day. That was a great teaching tool.”

And, as Cronkright fondly recalls, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I don’t think kids have that (desire to play pickup sports) today. Everything is organized,” he noted. “I think you learn an awful lot by playing basically backyard or sandlot baseball or playing backyard football or shooting baskets in the front yard. You learn to compete. And if you’re playing against older kids, you learn that, ‘Hey, if I lose, I’ve got to work harder if I want to win.’”

Cronkright’s induction into the MCSHOF comes amid a lifetime devoted to the game he loves.

A 1981 graduate of Dow High, Cronkright was a three-sport letter-winner for the Chargers, as well as a member of Berryhill Post 165’s American Legion baseball team for three years, including Berryhill’s 1979 state champion squad. He was also a member of the 1980 Means Stamping baseball team which won the Connie Mack World Series.

And it all started with Cronkright simply trying to prove himself to his older brothers and just having fun getting muddy.

As he recalled, his brothers created a “rain game” in which, if it was raining outside, they would work on throwing out baserunners, while he would always be the designated baserunner.

“I’d work on my hook-slide or whatever. I was six or eight years younger (than my brothers), and I wanted to show them I could play with them,” he said. “ ... I didn’t look at it as a game. I was just having fun.”

Cronkright went on to play at Central Michigan University, where he was a four-year letter-winner and was named MVP of the Chippewas’ Mid-American Conference championship teams in 1984 and 1985. He was named First Team All-MAC and First Team All-Mideast Region in 1985 and finished his collegiate career as CMU’s all-time leader in career doubles (38), career extra-base hits (62), career slugging percentage (.639), single-season doubles (20), and single-season extra-base hits (31). He still ranks in the top 10 in school history in all of those categories.

Following college, Cronkright played four years of minor league ball in the Chicago White Sox organization and was named MVP of the organization’s 1986 spring training. After leaving pro baseball, he took up fastpitch softball and played at the men’s major level for six years with the Midland Explorers, going on to establish team career records in triples (32) and stolen bases (63) and winding up second in the team record book in career doubles (65), home runs (45), and runs batted in (235).

While with the Explorers, Cronkright was named to the ISC All-World Tournament First Team three times and to the All-World Tournament Second Team once, and he still holds the ISC World Tournament record with three homers in a single game.
Cronkright was a member of the USA National Fastpitch team which earned a silver medal at the 1993 Pan American Games in Argentina.

“My dad always teased me about how playing a goofy game and chasing a white ball showed me a lot of the country,” Cronkright said with a chuckle. “I’ve played in Alaska, I’ve played in Argentina, and I’ve traveled all over the United States chasing a little white ball. (My dad) always laughed about all the places that baseball and softball took me.

“And he was right,” he added. “It was really a gift. It was a blessing that was kind of fun.”

Asked about his lasting memories from his playing days, Cronkright singled out two games in particular.

“When I was at Central (Michigan), we had a lead against Michigan in the regional final, and that was in the early days of ESPN and the College World Series being on TV,” he recalled. “We were ahead 2-1 in the ninth inning, and (Baseball Hall of Famer) Barry Larkin was up (for Michigan). He hit a ground ball to our second-baseman, who stepped on second and threw wild to first. They ended up scoring twice to go on to the College World Series.

“That one will always stick with me,” Cronkright added.

The 1993 Pan American Games gold medal game, in which Canada edged the U.S. 2-1, was Cronkright’s other favorite game.

“Those tight, tight baseball or softball games — I really got a thrill out of competing at that level,” he said. “Those are great memories.”

Cronkright said he also enjoyed his four years as a professional baseball player.

“I made some really good friends. I pushed baseball to the limit, and I was right there knocking on the door (to the big leagues), and that was a great experience,” he noted. “I definitely do not regret one thing about minor league baseball. I had a lot of fun, had some good opportunities, and the White Sox were a great organization.”

Since his playing days have ended, Cronkright has spent the better part of the last 16 years as an assistant coach for Berryhill, helping Post 165 win the American Legion World Series in 2009, finish fourth in 2012, and finish fifth in 2008.

“He’s still volunteering his time all the time with Berryhill. ... He loves to work with the young people, and that’s something not everyone knows, because he’s sort of hiding behind the scenes,” noted Cronkright’s older brother, Steve Cronkright, Berryhill’s longtime manager.

“The (newspaper) articles always have my name in them, but he’s been doing this for almost as long as I have,” Steve Cronkright added. “ ... The kids love him. He knows hitting as well as anybody in the area, and the kids will call him when they’re off to college and want to meet him here at some batting cage. ... We’ve got a bunch of (former Berryhill players) in college all over the place, and they all love to hit with Danny.”

Steve Cronkright was quick to add that his little brother refuses to take payment for teaching the game that has been so good to him.

“He really has enjoyed working with young people over the years,” Steve Cronkright noted. “ ... People will call him up and want to pay him to teach hitting, but he won’t take money for doing his passion.”

The reason for that, Dan Cronkright said, is simple.

“I had a whole lot of people teach me how to play baseball and football and basketball, and most of them didn’t get paid a dime,” he noted. “And I still today don’t take money to teach the game of baseball. I love baseball, and I love kids.”

A lifetime member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Dan Cronkright was inducted into the Central Michigan University Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and into the Saginaw County Hall of Fame in 2013 as a member of the 1980 Means Stamping team.

Still, he noted, joining the MCSHOF is something extra special.

“This is my hometown. It’s humbling. It’s nice,” he said. “I really, really appreciate it.”

“It really is an honor for Danny,” Steve Cronkright said. “I’m really happy for him. He’s done a lot of great things.”

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Ticket information: The Midland County Sports Hall of Fame dinner is set for Saturday, May 10 at Dow Diamond. Tickets can be purchased through May 6 at the Midland Parks and Recreation office on North Saginaw Road. Tickets are $30 each.