Cromartie was the only child of Leroy and Marjorie Cromartie. Leroy played quarterback at Florida A&M College, and led his team to Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 1944 and 1945. Having also played basketball and baseball in high school, he left FAMC to play semi-pro baseball with the Miami Giants, which led to a brief stint as a second baseman with the Cincinnati/Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues. After that, Leroy returned to FAMC and led the Rattlers to another SIAC championship in 1947 and a national championship in 1950.\n', '

Upon graduation from Miami Jackson High School in 1971, Warren Cromartie was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of that year\'s draft, but opted to instead attend Miami Dade College. Following this, he was drafted by three other teams (the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the January 1972 secondary draft, the San Diego Padres in the first round of June 1972 secondary draft, and the Oakland Athletics in the January 1973 secondary draft) but did not sign with any of the clubs. Finally, when the Expos selected him in the first round of the June 1973 secondary draft, he signed. Cromartie batted .336 with thirteen home runs, 61 runs batted in and thirty stolen bases in his first professional season (1974) with the Quebec Carnavals. This performance earned him a September call-up to the major leagues all the way from double A. He went three-for-seventeen with three walks during his short stint with the Expos.\n', '

He went into Spring training 1975 competing for the open right field job, but was sent to "Expoville," the Expos\' minor league complex in Daytona Beach, for reassignment to the triple A Memphis Blues in late March. After a disappointing 1975 season in Memphis, he rebounded nicely in 1976 to bat .337 for the American Association\'s Denver Bears, and receive a call up to the Expos in mid-August. He spent the rest of the season pretty much platooning with Ellis Valentine in right field, batting .210 with two RBIs.\n', '

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