For nearly seven years Carl Crawford was the best player in the AL East not wearing red stockings or pinstripes.
There has been a lot of discussion this week about how Crawford will age as a speed guy. How will he perform as a Red Sox in 2017 when he is 36?
No one knows that answer. (Not even Bill James) But this had me thinking about all the things Crawford had done against the Red Sox since he came up from Triple-A Durham in 2002. He’s been a pretty big pain in the ass if you are a Red Sox fan.
In today’s article, we take a trip through history detailing Crawford’s impact against the Red Sox since the time he was a 20-year old kid, hitting at the bottom of the Devil Rays lineup.
July 24, 2002
Carl Crawford hits his first career MLB triple at Fenway Park as the Devil Rays beat up Frank Castillo and the Red Sox, winning 9-5.
The last place Devil Rays were already 30.5 games out of first place when Crawford notched his first three-bagger.
March 31, 2003
This Opening Day matchup featured a typical Pedro Martinez gem:
7 IP,
6 Ks
No earned runs
It also featured a bullpen meltdown as Theo Epstein tried to implement ‘bullpen by committee’.
After Tampa’s Terry Schumpert homered off of Alan Embree in the 9th, the Red Sox brought in Chad Fox
That guy gave up a base hit to Ben Grieve and a walk-off, two-run homer to Crawford.
Not a good start to the year for the Sox.
April 29, 2004
Red Sox sweep a doubleheader against Tampa Bay, but Crawford beats up on Derek Lowe.
Crawford doubled twice and scored twice off Lowe — providing nearly all of the Devil Rays production in a 7-3 loss to Boston.
May 20, 2004
(Boston was holding was a slim half-game lead over the New York Yankees)
A three-game series opens with Crawford terrorizing Lowe again.
3 for 5
2 runs scored
2B, SB, BB
The 9-6 loss dropped Boston out of first place and people were starting to get annoyed with Tampa.
September 14, 2004
In front of 35,000 Red Sox fans at Fenway Park, Crawford led the game off by hitting the second pitch he saw for a homerun. The HR came off Pedro Martinez sparking the Devil Rays to a 5-2 win in Boston.
September 29, 2004
Déjà vu moment; Crawford faced Pedro again two weeks later at Tropicana Field.
Leading off, Crawford roped a triple down the right field line and scored on an error.
Pedro probably wanted to bean him. It was Pedro’s second loss to Tampa in two weeks.
CONTINUE READING…
August 29-31, 2005
For most of the season, the Red Sox were able to keep Crawford in check. He struggled against Boston in the early going, totaling just one extra-base hit through the teams’ first four AL East matchups.
But later in the summer, Tampa came to Fenway for a four-game series and Crawford finally woke up.
He went 6 for 18, including a double and a three-run homer in the series finale. Crawford’s Rays were swept by the Red Sox leaving Tampa 110 games out of the playoffs.
Not even Dick Vitale or that guy who used to heckle Mark Bellhorn could cheer for them anymore.
April 30, 2006
The 2006 season marked a change for the Devil Rays. They went 9-10 against Boston after being a punching bag the previous six years.
In late April, Crawford was the key to a Tampa 5-4 victory over the Sox. He hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 7th inning to propel the Rays to a win.
The win came in front of nearly 28,000 fans at Tropicana Field.
As you know, 28,000 fans is a lot of fans for a Rays game.
::more cowbell::
July 4th weekend, 2006
Tampa Bay (still the Devil Rays) takes three games from the Red Sox in a four-game series.
Crawford had seven more hits, including another homerun. He piled up four RBI, two runs and five stolen bases off Red Sox pitching.
Josh Beckett and Schilling both took losses.
September 27, 2006
Crawford tripled and scored twice as the Devil Rays routed Beckett 11-0 at Fenway Park.
2007 and 2008 were strange seasons for Crawford against Boston. His 2007 campaign wasn’t much to remember and it was cut short in September by injury.
In 2008, he missed about 50 more games due to a finger injury, but the Tampa (don’t call me devil anymore) Rays surprised the world by beating Boston in the ALCS.
Crawford was problematic in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series and helped spark the Rays at Fenway.
October 14, 2008
In Game 4 of the ALCS at Fenway Park, Crawford went 5-5 with two doubles, two stolen bases, two RBI and three runs scored in a 13-4 blowout of the Red Sox.
For the entire 2008 postseason, Crawford had 18 hits in 62 at-bats with two home runs, nine runs scored, eight RBI and seven stolen bases.
May 1, 2009
This night was the infamous six (6) stolen base game when Crawford absolutely terrorized Jason Varitek and Brad Penny. This game sparked discussion on how much blame went to the pitching staff and whether or not the Red Sox even cared about holding runners in place.
In the series, Crawford went 8 for 16 and Tampa took three of four from Boston.
May 8, 2009
Just a week later, Boston and Tampa faced off in another three-game series at Fenway. Crawford went 8 for 14 this time with six runs scored, three doubles and two more stolen bases. Ridiculous.
June 29, 2010
Crawford goes 4 for 5, but John Lackey throws a gem and the Red Sox pull out a win despite Hideki Okajima and Scott Atchison trying to blow it from the bullpen.
CC notches two more stolen bases off Varitek in the 8-5 loss.
August 29, 2009
Lackey game again, but this time the undoing was his own as Tampa beat Boston 5-3 on the back of Crawford’s two-run homer in the 6th inning at Tropicana Field.
September 7, 2010
It’s been noted that Daisuke Matsuzaka is thrilled to have Crawford on the Red Sox. CC has been very troublesome for the Japanese right-hander.
None more evident that the 4 for 4 performance this past September when Crawford racked up three doubles and a pair of RBI off Dice-K, in a 14-5 Rays victory.
Lastly, in his final appearance against Boston as a Tampa Ray, Crawford quietly went 0-5. It marked the end of an era and thankfully closed the door on him taking advantage of the Red Sox on the base paths.
It’s time for Crawford to start paying back Tampa for all of this.