During the offseason, Carl Crawford, a Tampa Bay all-star, decided to leave the Rays for the rival Boston Red Sox. A portion of the Rays’ fanbase felt disrespected by his decision and now see him as an enemy.
They should not have this opinion of Crawford, and all of the fans at Tropicana Field on June 14, the day he returns to the Bay area, should be on their feet during Crawford’s first at bat thanking him for all of the entertainment that he has brought to this city over the last decade.
Crawford was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, and played with the big league club since the 2002 season, when he was only 20 years old. Over that time, Crawford brought joy to many of the fans and also was one of the key components for the team that went to the World Series in 2008.
As a member of the Rays/Devil Rays (I will never pass on the the opportunity to still call them the Devil Rays), Crawford hit .297 with 104 home runs, 502 runs batted in, scored 765 runs and had a whopping 413 stolen bases. These stats make him one of the best, if not the absolute best, players in Tampa Bay’s brief history.
He also represented the Rays four times in the All-Star Game, being named the MVP of one in 2009. He received Rookie of the Year honors during his first season in the league and also has one Gold Glove up on his mantle at home. He won the Gold Glove in his last season in a Rays uniform.
It is baffling to me that fans would even think about booing the player that brought some kind of positive recognition to a team that had not made the playoffs until 2008, and took ten years to win more than 70 games. Needless to say, this team was the joke of the league, all the while Crawford was blossoming into the elite player he is today.
Crawford was the only reason that the Devil Rays were on SportsCenter at night. He was also the only reason why fans went to the Trop to watch the team play.
During the Rays’ World Series run in 2008, Crawford hit .290 with two home runs, seven RBIs and nine runs scored. He also went 5-5 in game four of the ALCS against the Red Sox. Crawford was one of the best players on that team and if it was not for him, the Rays may never have made it that far.
He always brought his best to the field no matter what the team was doing. It did not matter if the Rays were double digits out of first place, Crawford was playing his hardest. He works hard, is respectful to the game and can excel at all aspects of baseball.
Why hate him, I ask. Sure, he left for a big pay day, but it’s the fans’ fault, whether directly or indirectly, that the Rays could not pay him. Rays’ ownership has kept no secrets about attendance being related to team payroll. If more fans attended the games, there might have been a chance Crawford would have been a Ray for many years to come. Tampa Bay didn’t offer him a contract, though.
At the end of the 2010 season, there really was no shot that Crawford was returning to Tampa for 2011. There is no need to be bitter, though.
Remember the good old days; the days that Crawford stole six bases in a game against his current team, the times when he was getting yelled at in left field by some beautiful woman but refused to acknowledge her because he was too into the game, or when Crawford was there for the fans when it seemed as if there was no one else on the team worthy of being in the majors. Focus on his successful career as a Tampa Bay Ray, rather than his departure from the team.
All Rays’ fans should be on their feet, cheering at the top of their lungs the day that Crawford returns, showing him the gratitude that he deserves. Look to see his name up on the center field scoreboard next to Wade Boggs and Jackie Robinson someday.
Joe Beaudoin can be reached at jbeaudoin@spartans.ut.edu.