In Mississippi, the lefthander proved a quick study of the game, especially when he realized summer ball could support his education. During his last year in college, he found employment as a Cleveland Indians practice pitcher. Clark earned a B.A. in 1924, and shortly thereafter he found himself in Cleveland, wholly unprepared for the majors. He appeared in 12 big league games, winning 1 and losing 3. Not surprisingly, the Indians ordered Clark to the low bushes for much-needed season. As a starting pitcher for the Peoria Tractors, he went 4-2 in 6 starts and 52 innings of work. He surrendered 48 hits and 12 earned runs (3.08 ERA). That year, four clubs challenged for the Three-I League championship, and the Tractors (71-66) ended the season fourth, not far behind first-place Terre Haute (76-62). 

Cleveland relinquished its hold on Clark, and the prospect then split the following season between New Orleans of the Southern Association and Terre Haute of the Three Eye. In New Orleans, he appeared in 13 games, most in relief. Back in the Midwest, he went 4-3 in 9 games, completing the campaign with a 2.82 ERA. During the 1925 season, lefthander Jumbo Elliott dominated the Tots pitching staff, leading the league in wins (25) and ERA (3.03). Terre Haute finished the year 27 games above .500 (81-54), though still considerable distance from pennant-winning Peoria (89-48). The following season it was Clark's turn to shine. In 35 games, he led the league in strikeouts (134) and wins (19, tied with four others, including teammate Carl Boone). In 225 innings, he surrendered 218 hits and 86 earned runs (3.44 ERA). The 73-61 Tots ended league play in third.

After three years in the bushes, mostly in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, Clark earned a permanent promotion to the big leagues. In 1927, he appeared in 27 games (3 as a starter) for the Brooklyn Robins, finishing 7-2 in 73-plus innings of work. In Brooklyn, he joined former Terre Haute teammate Jumbo Elliott. From 1928 through 1932, Clark was a workhorse for Robins-Dodgers. During that span, he won 75 and lost 63 in 143 starts. In 1929, he led the National League in losses (19). But three years later, he finished second in wins (20) behind Cubs righthander Lon Warneke (22). 

In 1933, the Dodgers moved Clark to the New York Giants, but he was back in Brooklyn by the middle of the following year. From 1933 onward, he suffered from arm trouble. In 1936, his last full season, he won 7 and lost 11. The next year he made 2 brief mound appearances before hanging up the gloves to become a coach under Burleigh Grimes.

Watty Clark ended his career 111-97 in 355 appearances (206 starts). He surrendered 1,847 hits in 1,747-plus career innings, though he walked only 383 batters. In 1930 and 1935, he led the National League in fewest walks per nine innings (1.71 and 1.22 respectively). 

After baseball, Clark was a general contractor in the Clearwater, Florida area. He died on March 4, 1972 at the age of 69.

Phil "Fidgety" Collins (Rockford, 1923; Bloomington, 1924; Terre Haute, 1925 and 1927): In four seasons in the Three-I League, Collins appeared in 126 games, winning 55 and losing 45. He then enjoyed middling success in the National League, mostly with the Phillies. His 80-85 big league record included an average of 12 wins a season from 1929 through 1934. In Philadelphia, the press dubbed Collins "Fidgety Phil" owing to the righthander's restlessness on the mound. His fidgeting was due in no small measure to the Baker Bowl's undersized dimensions, as well as the suspect defense of his teammates. 

A Chicago native, Collins attended Bowen High on the city's south side. Before embarking on a rather lengthy Three Eye career, Collins spent two seasons (1921-1922) with Bay City of the Class B Michigan-Ontario League. In his two years in Bay City, he won 13 games and lost 11. He struck out 98 and surrendered 85 earned runs in 219 innings of work.

In 1923, he spent his first Three Eye season with Rockford. Collins appeared in 28 games for the second-place Rox, notching 17 victories and 8 defeats in 211 innings. On September 9, Collins pitched a complete game shutout in the season-ending doubleheader in Bloomington. The next day the Bloomington Pantagraph reported: "Collins had the home crew completely stopped in the opener and breezed thru an easy winner, changing his uniform for street clothes in time to catch the 4:30 train north to Chicago, where he will begin tossing 'em over to [Cubs manager] Bill Killefer, [catcher] Bobby O'Farrell & Co. today" The twenty-one-year-old Collins appeared in 1 game for the Chicago Cubs, surrendering 2 earned runs in 5 innings. Although he won his big league debut, it proved to be little more than a cup of coffee. Collins slipped back to the Three Eye the following season, and he did not return to the majors until 1929.

In 1924, Collins pitched for Bloomington, finishing with a league-leading 19 wins (with 10 losses) for the third-place Bloomers. In 246 innings, he allowed 231 hits while striking out 87. He finished his second Three Eye campaign with a respectable 2.85 ERA. That year the Three Eye consisted of only six teams, with Terre Haute (76-62) edging Evansville (75-64) for the pennant. The following season, he pitched for the Terre Haute Tots, winning 11 and losing 18 in 41 appearances. His earned run average ballooned to 4.32 in 210 innings of work. Evidently, the strain of 456 innings in two seasons contributed to arm problems and he did not pitch in 1926. "The doctors prescribed rest and doubted he would ever pitch again," noted the 1933 Who's Who in Major League Base Ball. The doctors were wrong. In 1927, the indefatigable Collins returned to Terre Haute for his fourth and final season in the Three-I League. Although he struggled to regain the form of his 19-win season, he worked 167, winning 8 and losing 9. Yet his 4.01 ERA was a clear indication that his recovery was a work-in-progress. All told, Collins finished his Three Eye career with 55 wins and 45 losses. He appeared in 126 games, and in 834 innings of work he surrendered 797 hits and struck out 299 (his earned run totals are incomplete). 

In 1928, his final minor league season, Collins pitched for New Orleans of the Class A Southern Association. With a healthy arm, his workhorse numbers returned. Appearing in 49 games, he won 16 and lost 14, surrendering 93 earned runs in 243 innings. During his lengthy minor league career, Collins finished with 84 wins and 70 losses in 1,296 innings of work.

Five full seasons after winning a game for the Chicago Cubs, Collins returned to the National League. From 1929 through 1934, he won 72 and lost 77 for the perennial second division Philadelphia Phillies. For five of his six seasons in Philadelphia, the Phils finished last in the league in fielding. In addition, pitchers contended with a right field wall only 279 feet from home plate. No wonder, then, that Collins constantly tugged at his cap and trousers, knocked his cleats on the rubber, and fingered the rosin bag. It was not long after his arrival that the local press nicknamed the righthander "Fidgety Phil." In the early 1930s, Three-I League veterans were a common sight in the Phillies dugout. For instance, the 1931 roster included outfielder and future hall-of-famer Chuck Klein (Evansville), third baseman Pinky Whitney (Decatur), and pitchers Ray Benge (Decatur) and Jumbo Elliott (Terre Haute). That season, Benge, Collins, and Elliott combined to earn 45 of Philadelphia's 66 wins. In 1935, the Phillies shipped Collins to the Cardinals. In St. Louis he worked primarily in relief, finishing his career by winning 7 for Frankie Frisch's second-place club. Collins ended his Major League career 80-85 with a 4.66 ERA. 

In 1936, the Cardinals sold Collins to San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League, but he refused to report. He then returned to Chicago, operating a tavern and working as a guard at the House of Correction. After a long illness, Collins died on August 14, 1948. He was 48 years old.

At Fullerton (California) Union High School, Crandall earned a national reputation as thirteen big league teams kept a watchful eye on the prep star. But based on his friendship with Johnny Moore, the Boston Braves longtime West Coast scout, Crandall never seriously considered offers from competing clubs.

On September 8, 1947, the 18-year-old Crandall signed a contract with Milwaukee, the Braves affiliate in the AAA American Association. Crandall then spent most of the 1948 season with Leavenworth of the Class C Western Association. At times, the youngster struggled. For instance, Joplin stole 20 bases in a single game off the inexperienced backstop. "I really wore out our center fielder picking up those wild pegs," Crandall recalled a decade later, "but I never lost my confidence . . . . You won't get anybody out holding on to the thing." Still, Crandall improved markedly during his first season of professional ball. In 123 games and 425 at-bats, he hit .304 with 15 home runs. And at the end of the season, Milwaukee recalled Crandall and he appeared in 5 American Association playoff games. 

By 1949, Crandall was one of Boston's top prospects. Although his abilities were best suited to AAA ball, Milwaukee manager Nick Cullop was not known for his patience with younger prospects. Therefore, the Braves sent Crandall to Class B Evansville. There, he studied under Bob Coleman, the longtime Three Eye skipper and former big league backstop. In 38 games and 154 at-bats, Crandall hit .351. He scored 28 and drove in 36 with 54 hits, 13 doubles, 3 triples, and 8 home runs. He recorded 250 putouts, 29 assists, and 3 errors for a .989 fielding percentage. Evansville finished the Three-I League season in first place with 74 wins and 51 losses.

"What caught, and held, my attention the first time I saw Del catch was his ability to handle low pitches," Coleman noted in Milwaukee's Miracle Braves (A. S. Barnes, 1954). "I believe two of the best I have seen in that respect were Al Lopez and Phil Masi. The ball just didn't get past those fellows and the pitchers could break off their sharpest low curve with complete confidence. You can't minimize what that means to a pitcher in a tough spot. From the start Crandall had it. He encouraged our pitchers to throw breaking stuff low, insisting: 'You throw it and I'll catch it.' That boy can't fail to be one of the best." 

Although Coleman expressed doubts about rushing his understudy to the big leagues, Crandall spent the latter half of the 1949 season in Boston. In 67 games as catcher, he batted .263 with 4 home runs and 34 RBI. He finished with 39 assists, but committed 6 errors for a fielding average of .982. 

The following season, he weathered a sophomore slump, batting only .220 while committing 12 errors in 75 games behind the plate. He then lost the 1951 and 1952 seasons to military service. During the Korean War, he played baseball at Fort Ord in California and later in Japan. In 1953, he rejoined the Braves as the franchise relocated to Milwaukee. From 1953 through 1960, the Braves earned two first-place and five second-place finishes. Crandall joined fellow Three-I League veterans Johnny Logan and Warren Spahn to lead a formidable lineup. Throughout the 1950s, the Braves and Dodgers battled for the title of the National League's premier club.

In two consecutive (1957 and 1958) World Series, the Braves faced the New York Yankees, winning the first in six games and losing the second in seven. Over these 13 games, Crandall hit .227 in 44 at-bats. In the 1958 heartbreaker, he struck out in 10 of his 25 at-bats. 

Crandall remained with Milwaukee through the 1963 season. He spent his last three seasons with San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. For his career, he tallied 585 runs, 1,276 hits, 179 home runs, and 657 RBI. His .254 lifetime average included two seasons near .300 (.294 in 1960 and .297 in 1962). Despite his respectable offensive numbers, Crandall earned his All-Star reputation behind the plate. He earned 4 Gold Gloves (1858-1960, 1962) and led N.L. catchers in fielding 4 seasons.

After hanging up his catcher's mitt, Crandall enjoyed a second career in the managerial ranks. From 1969 through the early months of the 1972 season, he managed Albuquerque of the Texas League and Evansville, by then a member of the American Association.

In late May 1972, Crandall left Evansville to replace Milwaukee Brewers skipper Dave Bristol. Under Crandall, the Brewers went 45-70, finishing sixth in the A.L. East. He led the club for three more seasons, finishing fifth each time. He left Milwaukee with a 271-338 record. During the 1983 season, Crandall returned to the Major Leagues for the last time. He managed the Mariners for parts of two lackluster seasons, finishing 93-131.

After his bitter managerial trials in Milwaukee and Seattle, he returned to minor league ball, leading the 1981 Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League to an astonishing 94-38 record. During the mid-to-late 1980s, Crandall was a broadcaster for Chicago White Sox.

Born and raised in Long Island City, the most heavily industrialized section of Queens, Cuccinello played baseball from the get-go. "Tony played as soon as he was able to walk," noted Tom Meany of the New York World-Telegram. "[He] played on the city streets, where you had to be on your toes to dodge the speeding trucks, on the sand lots of Long Island City, where every time you slid, you left part of your anatomy on the diamond." Cuccinello attracted attention as an infield star for William C. Bryant High School. He also played semi-pro ball under the guidance of Heinie Zimmerman, a former big leaguer who enjoyed a productive career with the Chicago Cubs (1907-1916) and New York Giants (1916-1919). Zimmerman and Giants teammate Hal Chase received lifetime suspensions from Major League Baseball after accusations surfaced that the two schemed to fix big league games.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed the young Cuccinello, and he spent two seasons in Lawrence of the Class B New England League. In 1926, he appeared in 36 games, hitting .283 in 127 at-bats. The next year, he boosted his average almost 30 points. In 91 games and 352 at-bats, he tallied 68 runs, 109 hits, 8 home runs, and a .310 average. In 1928, the Cardinals sent Cuccinello to Danville of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. In his one season in the Three Eye, he batted .310 in 127 games. In 465 at-bats, he totaled 94 runs, 144 hits, and 11 home runs. The Danville Veterans finished the split season 69-57 as the Terre Haute Tots and Decatur Commodores earned first-place finishes. At the end of the year, Branch Rickey sent Cuccinello to Columbus of the American Association. The following season he played a complete A.A. schedule, batting a robust .358 with 20 home runs. He also led the league in hits (227) and doubles (56).

The Cardinals sold Cuccinello to the Reds, and the young infielder played the entire 1930 season in Cincinnati. As the Reds everyday third baseman, he hit .312 with 10 home runs and 78 RBI. The next year he shifted to second base, and teamed up with shortstop Leo Durocher to tie the N.L. record for double plays by any one club. He also broke the record for double plays by a second baseman. In 154 games, he tallied 376 putouts, 499 assists, 28 errors, and 128 double plays (a mark he equaled with Boston in 1936). Cuccinello also enjoyed a solid year at the plate, batting .315 with 93 RBI (seventh best in the N.L.). 

On March 14, 1932, Cincinnati dealt Cuccinello, Joe Stripp, and Clyde Sukeforth to the Dodgers for Babe Herman and Ernie Lombardi. In Brooklyn, Cuccinello played second and third base, earning a spot on the 1933 N.L. All-Star squad. His last full season was 1938.

In 1941, he managed Jersey City to a fifth-place finish in the International League. The following season he returned to Boston to act as a player-coach under Casey Stengel. From 1942 through 1944, he played sporadically for the Braves and White Sox, extending his flagging career through the leanest years of wartime baseball. In 1945, his final season, he appeared in 118 games for the White Sox. He battled Snuffy Stirnweiss for the Major League batting crown, falling short when the Yankees second baseman tallied 3 hits on the final day of the season. The White Sox were rained out, and Cuccinello ended 1 percentage behind Stirnweiss' .309. That year, the only other full-time player to hit above .300 was Johnny Dickshot of the White Sox. Cuccinello ended his career with 1,729 hits, 884 RBI, and a .280 batting average.

In 1947, Cuccinello managed Tampa of the Class C Florida International League. The next year, he coached in the AAA American Association under Al Lopez. In 1949, he returned to the big leagues to coach for Cincinnati, and in 1952 he reunited with Lopez in Cleveland. In 1957, he followed his mentor to Chicago, and the two remained with the White Sox until the end of the 1965 season. Cuccinello also coached for Detroit. Although he never played for a pennant winner, he coached in three World Series (1954 with the Indians; 1959 with the White Sox; and 1968 with the Tigers).

Cuccinello's brother Al played one season for the New York Giants (54 games in 1935). Sam Mele, his nephew, was a former big league player and manager who led the Minnesota Twins to the 1965 World Series. On September 21, 1995, Tony Cuccinello died of congestive heart failure. He was 87.