Mr. Ray

Name: Carl Crawford

Card Company: Topps

Year: 2004

Team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Bats/Throws; L

Ht: 6'2

Carl Crawford was the face of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise for the longest of times. And while that title may now belong to Evan Longoria, no one can doubt the impact he had on the Rays. With his mix of speed, power and defense Crawford provided excitement for Rays fans during their darkest and brightest times. Unlike most small market star players that jump at the first chance to get big money, Crawford hung around and reaped the benefits of staying long-term with his original team.

Carl Crawford coming out of high school had many roads he could’ve taken, because he was such a great athlete. He was offered a basketball scholarship by UCLA and football scholarships by Nebraska, USC, Florida, Oklahoma and Tulsa, and he turned them all down to play baseball. Selected in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB draft by the Rays, Crawford would spend a little over 3 years in the minors before being called up to the MLB in 2002. Crawford in his first 63 games for the Devil Rays would bat .259 while driving in 30 runs and swiping 9 bases.

After the 2002 season Crawford would become a fixture in left field for the Rays, playing at least 140 games seven times out of the next eight seasons. In 2004, he would make his first all-star team, finishing the year with a .296 batting average, a league leading 19 triples and another league leading 59 steals. Triples and steals would become a theme for Crawford leading the AL in Triples in (2004-06,2010), while also breaking the 50-stolen base mark in (2003-04,2006-07,2009). The one thing that wouldn’t be a theme for him early in his career was winning. The Devil Rays from 2002-2007 never won more than 66 games in a single season. Not much was expected of the perennial cellar dwelling Rays in 2008, who tried to change their luck by taking the Devil out of their team name. But the Rays would go from worst to first and make it all the way to the World Series where they would eventually lose to the Phillies. Crawford would spend two more years in Tampa Bay after the 2008 season making the AL All-Star team in both 2009 and 2010 winning a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in the process. After losing to the Texas Rangers in the 2010 ALDS Carl Crawford for the first time in his career would be a free agent.

Crawford was considered one of the crown jewels of the free agent class and it showed when he signed with the Boston Red Sox for $142 million over 7 years. His first season in Boston didn’t go as planned, struggling out of the gate, only hitting .259 and posting the fewest amount of steals he ever had in a full season with 18. And it wouldn’t get any better the following season. Injuries would plague his second season in Boston, suffering cartilage damage and sprained ligaments in his elbow and a ulnar collateral tear that required season ending Tommy John surgery.

After the 2012 season he was traded to the Dodgers in what was considered at the time a “blockbuster” trade. Crawford along with Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto and were traded to

the Dodgers for James Loney, Ivan De Jesus, Allen Webster, Rubby de la Rosa and Jerry Sands. Boston got absolutely hosed in this trade, none of the prospects they traded for panned out and the Dodgers managed to grab a cornerstone first basemen. As far as Crawford is concerned, he had two solid years with the Dodgers before injuries caught up to him and caused him to miss the majority of the next two seasons. Thirty games into the 2016 season the Dodgers realized that it didn’t make sense to have a $20,000,000 pinch hitter and released him. And shortly after that Carl Crawford announced his retirement from baseball.

Even though he might not be fondly remembered in both Boston and LA, Crawford will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Tampa Bay fans. As of right now he is the Rays franchise record holder in (Batting Average, Runs, At Bats, Hits, Singles, Triples and Steals). Making it only a matter of time before he has his jersey retired by the Rays. Every small market team needs a hero and for the first 9 years of his career that what he was.

#CarlCrawford #TampaBayRays #BehindtheCarboard #BaseballCards