Speaking of Sam Crane (aka Sam Craig), I'd like to point out that the little biographical information that is readily available regarding his career includes this report: "His career ended when he was arrested after having an affair with the wife of a fruit dealer and stealing $1,500 from the husband." Now I'm thinking nobody gets caught the first time they travel the proscribed path, so it seems possible our hero had reasons to keep his correct name obscured. Fruit dealers can be very annoying!
A little more info on Sam, who parlayed his fruit-dealer caper(s) into a second career as a sports journalist: Samuel N. "Sam" Crane. Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1887. 276 hits and 3 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Buffalo Bisons in 1880. His final season was 1890 with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He managed the Buffalo Bisons in 1880 and the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds in 1884. After his playing days, Sam had a long and distinguished career as a sportswriter. It was his connection to baseball as a player, manager, and sportswriter that lent credibility to his assertion that Cooperstown, New York be the location for a "memorial" to the great players from the past. Cooperstown was, at the time, the place that many people believed was where Abner Doubleday had invented the game of baseball. It was this idea of a memorial that eventually led to the creation of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1939.
And a card with his name correct (I think):
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