Carl Crawford

Carl Crawford
Carl Crawford with the Red Sox
Boston Red Sox – No. 13
Outfielder
Born: August 5, 1981 (1981-08-05) Houston, Texas
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
July 20, 2002 for the Tampa Bay Rays
Career statistics (through 2011 season)
Batting average	.293
Stolen bases	427
Runs	830
Hits	1,609
Home runs	115
Teams
Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays (2002–2010) Boston Red Sox (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
4× All-Star selection (2004, 2007, 2009, 2010) Gold Glove Award (2010) Silver Slugger Award (2010) 2009 MLB All-Star Game MVP 4× AL Stolen Base Champion (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) Tied an MLB record with 6 stolen bases in a game (May 3, 2009 vs. Boston Red Sox)

Medal record
Men’s baseball
Competitor for United States
Baseball World Cup
Silver	2001 Taipei	National team

Carl Demonte "The Perfect Storm" Crawford (born August 5, 1981, in Houston, Texas) is an American professional baseball outfielder who plays for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws left-handed. Crawford has more triples (110) than any other active baseball player.

Early life

Crawford, a native of the Fifth Ward area of Houston, attended Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, Texas, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In baseball, he batted .638 as a senior. Crawford was offered scholarships to play basketball as a point guard at UCLA. He also had an option to play college football as an option quarterback at Nebraska, USC, Oklahoma, Florida, and Tulsa. He had originally signed a letter of intent to play football for Nebraska but he turned down both offers in favor of a baseball career.

Professional career

Crawford was drafted by the Devil Rays in the second round (52nd overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft.

Minor leagues

In 2002, the Tampa Bay chapter of the BBWAA named Crawford the Devil Rays' Most Outstanding Rookie and he earned International League Rookie of the Year playing for the AAA Durham Bulls.^{[citation needed]}

Major leagues

Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays (2002–2010)

2002–06

Crawford entered the major leagues at the young age of 20 and played in 63 games for the Devil Rays in 2002, batting .259 with 9 stolen bases. As of the 2009 season, he was the longest tenured member of the team.

In 2003, he played nearly every day, batting .281 with 54 RBI and led the league with 55 steals. Along with Juan Pierre, Crawford was co-winner of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum James "Cool Papa" Bell Legacy Award for 2003.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Crawford stole 59 bases, again leading the league and posting the second-highest total in the majors that season. He batted .296 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs. Crawford also hit a league-leading 19 triples. He was selected for the All Star Game, played in his hometown of Houston, and was named Devil Rays team MVP in 2004 by the BBWAA.

Crawford batted .301 in 2005, becoming just the third .300 hitter in Devil Rays history, joining Aubrey Huff (.311 in 2003) and Fred McGriff (.310 in 1999). Crawford also posted career highs in hits (194), home runs (15), and RBI (81). He again led the league with 15 triples and placed third in steals (46).

Crawford going back to the dugout in 2006

On July 5, 2006 against the Boston Red Sox, Crawford became only the eighth player in history to get 200 stolen bases before his 25th birthday.^{[citation needed]} Crawford finished the season with career highs in batting average (.305) and home runs (18), joining Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby as the only players in Major League history to increase their batting average and home run totals every year for five straight years. He won a Fielding Bible Award for his defensive excellence in left field during the season.

2007–10

Crawford was named an All-Star for the second time in 2007, becoming the first Devil Ray to receive the honor more than once. He homered in the 6th inning of the All-Star Game, on a 3–2 pitch from Francisco Cordero of the Milwaukee Brewers.

In the second half of the season, Crawford had a sore right wrist which had been bothering him for some time, and he did not hit a home run for a period of 42 days. Prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he had an MRI and was listed as doubtful to play because of the wrist. However, he pinch hit as the game went into extra innings and promptly hit a walk-off home run, ending his drought. This kicked off a run of four homers in ten games.

In August, ESPN.com named Crawford the Devil Rays' "Face of the Franchise".

On April 11, 2008, Crawford accumulated his 1000th hit, making him only the eighth player to hit 1000 and steal 250 bases before turning 27.^{[citation needed]} In game four of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, Crawford tied an ALCS record with five hits in one game, going 5–5 and stealing two bases. After the season, he won his second Fielding Bible Award.

On May 3, 2009, Carl Crawford tied a modern era record by stealing six bases in a game against the Boston Red Sox, part of a team-record eight total stolen bases. On July 14, 2009, Crawford represented Tampa Bay in the 2009 All Star Game, where he was named MVP for a leaping catch at the top of the 8-foot outfield wall to prevent a possible go-ahead home run from Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe.

In 2009 he had the best range factor of all starting major league left fielders (2.34). He won his second consecutive Fielding Bible Award and third overall at left field.

On July 31, 2010, Crawford reached 400 stolen bases. He is only the 7th player in history to reach that mark before his 29th birthday.

On August 17, 2010, Crawford hit the 100th triple of his career, joining Ty Cobb as the only major league players to hit 100 triples and steal 400 bases before the age of 30.^{[citation needed]}

The Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted Crawford the Most Valuable Player for the Rays in 2010. Following the conclusion of the season, Crawford was given the Gold Glove Award, as well as the Silver Slugger Award.

Boston Red Sox

On December 8, 2010, Crawford signed a 7-year, $142-million contract with the Boston Red Sox. His signing came two days after Adrian Gonzalez was traded to Boston. Crawford struggled to begin the 2011 season, batting .137 and stealing only 2 bases in his first 12 games. On May 3, he hit his 1,500th career hit, a single against Dan Haren of the Los Angeles Angels in the 3rd inning, becoming the 588th player with 1,500 or more career hits. For the season, he batted .255 with an on base percentage of .289.

Through 2011, he had the third-best career fielding percentage (.990) among all active major league left fielders, behind Ryan Braun and Reed Johnson.

Awards and accomplishments

Crawford with the Rays

• American League All-Star (2004, 2006, 2009, 2010)
• Gold Glove Award (2010)
• Silver Slugger Award (2010)
• Fielding Bible Award (2006, 2008, 2009)
• American League Stolen Base Champion (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007)
• All-Star Game MVP (2009)
• MLB modern-era, single-game, stolen-base record: 6 (May 3, 2009)
• International League Rookie of the Year (2002)
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum "Cool Papa Bell Legacy Award" (2003)
• Tampa Bay Chapter/BBWAA Devil Rays Most Valuable Player (2004, 2010)
• Tampa Bay Chapter/BBWAA Devil Rays Most Outstanding Rookie (2002)
• Rays single-season runs record: 110 (2010)
• Rays single-season triples record: 19 (2004)
• Rays single-season stolen base record: 60 (2009)
• Rays' all-time leader in at bats, plate appearances, RBIs, runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, strikeouts, stolen bases, and singles.
• Named the Rays' "Face of the Franchise" by ESPN

See also

• List of Major League Baseball stolen base records
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball triples champions
• List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• CarlCrawford on Twitter

Preceded by Alfonso Soriano Chone Figgins	American League Stolen Base Champion 2003–2004 2006–2007 (2007 with Brian Roberts)	Succeeded by Chone Figgins Jacoby Ellsbury
Preceded by Josh Hamilton	American League Player of the Month June 2008	Succeeded by Miguel Cabrera
Preceded by J.D. Drew	Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 2009	Succeeded by Brian McCann