Nicknamed "the Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coach with the franchise for an additional twenty seasons.

Crosetti was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in North Beach, which was something of a hotbed of Italian-American talent on the baseball field during the 1920s and 1930s (Tony Lazzeri, Charlie Silvera and the three DiMaggio brothers also hail from the same neighborhood).

[7] Crosetti led the American League in plate appearances twice (1938 and 1939), stolen bases once (1938), strikeouts twice (1937 and 1938) and in being hit by pitches eight times (1934, 1936–40, 1942 and 1945).

[2] He was known as the weak link in the Yankees batting order, but he was also known as a slick fielder and for his ability to pull off the hidden ball trick.

[9] After 37 years, longing to be closer to his family in Northern California,[10] he left the franchise to join the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969.