Hall of Fame
Jim Crane
Mules Baseball, 1973-76
A graduate of Lutheran North High School in St. Louis, Jim 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 second in Division II that season with 11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings.With Crane on the mound, the Mules beat then Mankato State 5 to 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.
A baseball player at heart and a successful business man, Jim Crane merged his two interests when he became the fifth owner of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball franchise in November of 2011. Upon taking ownership of the Astros, Crane undertook a rebuild for the franchise that eventually produced a 2017 World Series Championship and five consecutive trips to the American League Championship Series (2017-21).
In addition to his responsibilities with the Astros, Crane also serves as the CEO and President of Crane Capital Group, is the owner of Champion Energy Services and us the owner of Crane Worldwide Logistics, a premier provider of customized transportation and logistics services.
Crane contributes to Central Missouri annually to provide athletic scholarships for Mules baseball. Additionally, Crane was the primary underwriter of a $1.2 million renovation in 1998 of the old Mules Field on the University of Central Missouri campus, which has since been renamed the James R. Crane Stadium. In 2016, Crane and the UCM Foundation upgraded the university’s baseball facility with a new synthetic turf playing surface. In 2021, a lead gift from Crane paved the way for the new Mules Baseball Clubhouse which features an MLB-style layout for the baseball program.
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