Crossin was born on June 15, 1891 in Avondale, Pennsylvania to James, and Mary Crossin, of New York, and England, respectively. James Crossin, who was of Irish American heritage, worked as a miner, and a day laborer. Frank Crossin had nine siblings; brothers James, William, Edward, John, Joseph, and Leo; and sisters Alice, Marian, and Alberta. In 1910, Frank Crossin was working as an auto mechanic. In his youth, Crossin played amateur baseball with the Luzerne Reds, who represented Luzerne, Pennsylvania. He also played amateur baseball in Wyoming, and Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.\n', '

In 1912, Crossin signed his first professional baseball contract with the Binghamton Bingoes of the Class-B New York State League. It was reported that the Wilkes-Barre Barons were interested in Crossin, but signed with Binghamton instead. Crossin played with future, and former Major League Baseball (MLB) players Jack Barnett, Cad Coles, Rankin Johnson, Jim Jones, Harry Lumley, John McCloskey, Chick Robitaille, and Allan Sothoron. Early in the season, Crossin replaced Binghamton\'s regular catcher George Vandegrift at that position. Scouts from several MLB team were reportedly interested in Crossin. Times Leader described Crossin as "one of the sensations of the league", and wrote that he had a "remarkable throwing and hitting" ability. On July 11, Crossin was sold to the MLB St. Louis Browns, but was allowed to finish the season with Binghamton. With the Bingoes, he batted .235 with 63 hits in 89 games played.\n', '

Crossin was issued to report to the St. Louis Browns in September 1912. Before reporting, he returned to his home in Luzerne, Pennsylvania, where the manager, and players from his former amateur team the Luzerne Reds held a banquet in honor of Crossin. The Browns paid the Binghamton Bingoes, the team in which they purchased him from, US$1,000 for Crossin. He made his MLB debut on September 24. With the Browns that year, he played in eight games. In those games, he batted .227 with two runs scored, five hits, two runs batted in (RBIs), and one stolen base. Defensively, he played all of his games at the catcher position.\n', '

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