Billy Crowell played 23 games for the St. Joseph (Missouri) Clay Eaters of the Western Association during the 1889 season, playing primarily right field but also sometimes pitching. Nevertheless, Crowell ended up with five different poses in the N172 set. This issue labels him as a pitcher, but depicts him standing at home plate with his bat at the ready.

The centering is just slightly low on the card, leaving little room for a bottom border, but not cutting off any of the pertinent text or punctuation below the image. The image is very clear and the contrast makes Crowell jump off the card, leaving the cloudy background behind. Rounded upper corners and some light edge chipping on the right and top keep this card from grading even higher than it already has. Despite this, a very strong image, with above average contrast for the issue.