The members of the umpiring community and the WUA send their deepest sympathies to the Crawford family.

Henry C. “Shag” Crawford passed away on July 11, 2007.  Crawford married Vivian Gallagher on November 2, 1940, and they had three sons and a daughter, residing in Haverford, Pennsylvania; two of their sons, Jerry and Joe, also became sports officials. Jerry has been an NL umpire since 1976, and Joe has been a National Basketball Association referee since 1977.

Crawford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served in the Navy during World War II. Crawford became a minor league umpire in 1950, working for two months in the Canadian-American League before moving to the Eastern League from 1951 to 1953 and the American Association in 1954-1955; his contract was purchased by the National League in November 1955.

Shag Crawford worked 3082 National League games between 1956 and 1975.  During his career, he officiated three World Series (1961, 1963, 1969), two National League Championship Series (1971, 1974), and All-Star Games in 1959 (first game), 1961 (first game) and 1968; he worked behind the plate for the 1968 All-Star Game. On June 4, 1964, he was the third base umpire for Sandy Koufax's third no-hitter. Crawford was relieved of his duties in 1975 for refusing to work the World Series that year due to a rotational system implemented for selection of World Series umpires over the traditional assignment by merit.