[9] He made his MLB debut on June 17, 1949, at the age of 19,[7] entering as a pinch runner in the final inning of a 7–2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

When his two-year hitch was over in March 1953, the Braves departed Boston for Milwaukee, where they benefited from an offense featuring Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Joe Adcock.

Crandall seized the regular catcher's job from Walker Cooper in 1953 and held it for eight years, handling Braves pitchers such as left-hander Warren Spahn and right-handers Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl.

[12] On September 11, 1955, with the Braves trailing the Philadelphia Phillies, 4–1, with two outs and a 3–2 count in the ninth inning, Crandall hit a grand slam home run to win the game.

[17][20] Crandall averaged 125 games caught during the peak of his career, but missed most of the 1961 season due to shoulder trouble,[21] which gave Joe Torre his opportunity to break in.

While Crandall did come back to catch 90 games in 1962—hitting a career-high .297, making his final National League All-Star squad and winning his last Gold Glove; he was soon replaced by Torre as the Braves' regular catcher.

[1] After having caught Jim Wilson's no-hitter on June 12, 1954, he added another pair in 1960—by Burdette on August 18, and by Spahn a month later on September 16;[25][26][27] all three were against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Richard Kendall of the Society for American Baseball Research devised a study that ranked Crandall as the fourth most dominating fielding catcher in major league history.

Crandall and pitcher Warren Spahn started 316 games as a battery, which was passed by Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan (who pitched together from 1963 to 1975).

Together, they had six children who survived him: Lynn (McAlpine), Del Jr., Jeff, Bob, Tim, and Bill,[33] in addition to Ronnie, who died when he was 7 years old from complications of cerebral palsy.