When Carl Crawford came to the plate in the top of the 5th last night, ESPN’s on-air crew undertook a discussion of Crawford’s future and I pleasantly surprised by the colloquy (mostly because I was bracing for the hackneyed argument that Crawford’s impending departure is somehow proof of the failings of our community).
Is that guy trying to karate chop Crawford? That isn't going to help the offseason recruiting. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The color commentator (it sounded a lot like Rick Sutcliffe but I can’t find anything online to confirm that — but I bet it was Sutcliffe because I like him) avoided any discussion of money or attendance. He even ducked the worn out cliches about the players of past generations that spent entire careers playing for one team in sepia tones.
Instead, he just said something like “it is a shame that a team like Tampa Bay doesn’t have $100MM to keep a guy like Crawford.” That is a fair point because it feels like that. That felt like a fresh perspective. Forget the cause of the departure. Baseball fans should care about the effect.
The more I thought about Sutcliffe’s perspective the more I agreed with it — even though I disagreed with his ultimate conclusion that Crawford’s departure was “a shame.” I really like watching Carl Crawford play baseball. He is one of the guys that remind us all that this game is first and foremost about fun. (He also gave my favorite quote of all time: “Ummm, [if I could be any superhero] I’d be Batman because he, uh, works at night.”) But, as much as I like Crawford, I like the Rays more. More directly, I am a Rays fan, not a Crawford fan. I like Crawford in because he plays for us, not the other way around.
A lot of popular players cycle through a clubhouse over time. Looking back at our club’s short history, fan favorites like Bubba Trammel, John Flaherty, Jonny Gomes, Eric Hinske, and Rocco Baldelli all departed for various reasons and each time some Rays fans I knew thought that the world would never be the same. But we all kept coming back.
Crawford is certainly the best of the group of fan favorites but I am not going to be sad when he leaves. Next spring will be just like every spring. We will all sit down and argue about how to turn the 35 or 40 guys in camp into the best 25-man roster. The only difference is, we will wonder for the first time in many years who will play leftfield.
What a great article you have written. I feel the same way and I agree with you 100%…all you said! Though Jennings is not blowing us away with his hitting just yet, I look forward to him sprinting across left field to make that grab and stealing second like it was routine!! God bless Crawford, I hope he gets a great contract, but we have a tremendous farm system and I will still be there if CC has to go. The Babe quit playing for the Yankess long before I was born, and Wade Boggs ended his career in Tampa(Bay). Friends and players come and go and we have to stick with what we have ‘cuz the times change and that’s just the way it is.
i am a lifetime bostonian but always root for the lower budget teams as i laugh when the red sox,yankees,mets,et al falter but the rays and the twins even the marlins to some extent seem to be highly competitive with highly motivated home grown ballplayers.i hope carl crawford gets his money as long as he puts winning ahead of money.take a bit less and go or stay with a contender.ask jason bay who left a winner for miniscule more money.i miss the loyalty that no longer exists in professional sports.i can visualize crawford in pinstripes and he better hope he lives up to the expectations,just ask aj burnett or john lackey here in boston.take less carl and stay with a winner and maybe someday the fans there will apprecite the rays as much as i do.
Glad to know at least one Bostonian has such incredibly good taste!
Thanks for the comment. I can appreciate your desire for a day when athletes cared about things other than money but, I always wonder if that happened because the players had such little control over their wallets.
Either way, when CC leaves, we will have the joy of debating his legacy and his replacement. Lately, I think he is headed to Anaheim.
Thanks Jake. To me, that is the fun of baseball. Every year gives you a fresh opportunity to evaluate a new combination of players and debate who fits where. That shouldn’t be a negative experience just because one of the holes is a little bigger next spring.