Carl Crawford, My Only Favorite Devil Ray

Mike Popelka

Although an ardent supporter of the National League and an avid critic of the wisdom of placing a baseball team in Tampa, I did some soul searching and realized that I can unequivocally say the most exciting lead-off hitter in baseball today is Carl Crawford. My evidence is based solely on the two Devil Rays games I’ve been to in person, as well as a couple of D-Rays games I accidentally watched on TV. Crawford can influence the outcome of a game with his speed like nobody since Vince Coleman (late 80’s Vince, not firecracker throwing Vince).

Crawford hits for average, is a gap hitter with some pop in his bat, can bunt, drive in runs, and most importantly of all, he can run the bases like nobody’s business. At PETCO Park in San Diego a couple of years ago, I watched Crawford bunt for a hit and then tag up from first base on a fly ball to right field. RIGHT FIELD! Brian Giles, playing at middle depth, was caught totally off guard and had no chance to throw out speedy Carl. The very next play he stole third base. Add a couple of triples to the box score and Crawford finished the day 4-5 with 3 runs scored. How often does your team’s lead-off guy do that? I know my Cubbies haven’t had a guy who ignites the offense from the #1 hole since. . .well. . . never (Lou Brock doesn’t count—I wasn’t born yet; and Juan Pierre needs to be tested before I’ll believe he can get the job done).

I know, being a Seattle resident I’m supposed to agree that Ichiro Suzuki is the best baseball player in the game. He did break the hits record in 2004, and he is considered to have one of the best throwing arms in the league, but he’s missing that explosiveness that Carl Crawford brings to his team. Ichiro is on the way down. He’ll still be an all-star for a few more years, but he’s getting older on a team that is treading water in a boring division. Crawford plays for the most unremarkable franchise in professional baseball in a division where he has no hope of ever winning a pennant, but he’s still learning the game. I can’t wait for this guy to hit his prime. Hopefully when that happens the Devil Rays will have been contracted and Carl Crawford will be signing with a National League team, where his vulgar displays of baserunning prowess can be appreciated.