Ed Crosby was a Negro Leagues baseball player who played primarily as an outfielder and first baseman from 1920 to 1938. While Crosby had a solid career playing in the Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League, it is his baseball cards that have captured the interest of collectors for decades. Crosby is one of the few Negro Leagues players to be featured in vintage baseball cards during his playing career.
Crosby began his professional baseball career in 1920 with the Detroit Stars of the Negro National League. He would play for the Stars through the 1923 season. In 1922, Crosby was featured in his first baseball card as part of the Goudey Baseball Card set. At the time, Goudey was one of the top manufacturers of baseball cards and their 1922 set included many of the top players in the major leagues as well as a handful of Negro Leagues stars. Crosby’s 1922 Goudey card is considered one of the most valuable and sought after cards featuring a Negro Leagues player from the pre-war era. In near mint condition, Crosby’s 1922 Goudey baseball card can sell for over $10,000, a testament to its historical significance and rarity.
After leaving the Detroit Stars following the 1923 season, Crosby spent 1924 and 1925 playing for the Baltimore Black Sox of the Eastern Colored League. He established himself as one of the top sluggers and outfielders in the Negro Leagues during his time with Baltimore. In 1925, Crosby was featured in his second and final baseball card as part of the Dickie Kerr All-Americans set issued that year. The Dickie Kerr set highlighted many of the top Negro Leagues players of the time along with Kerr, the namesake of the set who was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues and later in the major leagues. Crosby’s 1925 Dickie Kerr card is also extremely rare and valuable, routinely selling for over $5,000 in top condition due to its scarcity and importance as a representation of Crosby’s playing career.
Following his two seasons with the Black Sox, Crosby returned to the Detroit Stars for 1926 and 1927. He continued to hit for power and average as one of the Stars’ top offensive threats. Crosby helped lead Detroit to a third place finish in the 1926 Negro National League season. In 1927, the Stars finished in a disappointing sixth place. It was after the 1927 season that Crosby began to wind down his playing career, spending the next few seasons splitting time between multiple Negro Leagues teams. From 1928 to 1930, Crosby played for the Birmingham Black Barons, Detroit Wolves, and Baltimore Black Sox. He remained a productive player but began to see more of a reserve role at this stage of his career.
Crosby played his final season in the Negro Leagues in 1938 at the age of 38, joining the Philadelphia Stars. By this point, he was mainly a role player and pinch hitter used to mentor some of the Stars’ younger position players. Crosby appeared in only 27 games and had 30 at-bats for the 1938 Stars, finishing with a .233 batting average in very limited playing time. It marked the end of an 18-year career for Crosby that saw him compete against the likes of Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Oscar Charleston. While Crosby was never as heralded as some of the true Negro Leagues legends, his baseball cards from the 1920s remain a vital part of the sport’s history.
As two of the only vintage baseball cards featuring a Negro Leagues star from the segregated era, Crosby’s 1922 Goudey and 1925 Dickie Kerr issues are hugely significant to collectors today. They serve as some of the only widely distributed representations of Negro Leagues players from the peak years of the leagues in the 1920s. With so few baseball cards made of black baseball pioneers prior to integration, Crosby’s two cards take on added value as some of the only glimpses collectors have into the Negro Leagues during that period. Prices remain exceptionally high for both Crosby cards in top condition due to their rarity, historical value, and the limited population that remains in collectors’ hands after nearly 100 years.
For serious baseball card investors and aficionados of Negro Leagues history, finding high grade examples of Crosby’s 1922 Goudey or 1925 Dickie Kerr cards is a true prize. Both are consistently among the most valuable and desirable vintage cards featuring a Negro Leagues player. While Crosby may not have achieved the same statistical accolades as Negro Leagues legends like Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, or Cool Papa Bell, his baseball cards stand as a crucial connection to an important era of segregated professional baseball that has been largely lost to history outside of box scores, photos, and a small collection of vintage cards like Crosby’s memorable Goudey and Dickie Kerr issues. They are a reminder of the talent and star power that Crosby and his Negro Leagues peers brought to fans in the 1920s and 1930s before the color barrier was broken.
