Say hello to Brandon Crawford, the Giants’ newest,
slick-fielding shortstop, occasional offensive catalyst and
overwhelming fan favorite.
”
It’s been like a fairy tale. It’s been a dream come true,
”
Crawford said Wednesday about his two-week foray into the big
leagues. His latest heroics — yes, heroics, plural — came in the
seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. A
diving stop of a ground ball here, a go-ahead triple there, and
Crawford’s cult status grew everywhere inside AT
&
amp;T Park.
SAN FRANCISCO
Say hello to Brandon Crawford, the Giants’ newest, slick-fielding shortstop, occasional offensive catalyst and overwhelming fan favorite.
“It’s been like a fairy tale. It’s been a dream come true,” Crawford said Wednesday about his two-week foray into the big leagues.
His latest heroics — yes, heroics, plural — came in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. A diving stop of a ground ball here, a go-ahead triple there, and Crawford’s cult status grew everywhere inside AT&T Park.
His arrival has been just the tonic needed to offset a mournful aura that enveloped the Giants after catcher Buster Posey’s season-ending ankle injury May 25.
“The way he’s come up here, he’s more than held his own,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s got this sense of belonging.”
Now what would make Crawford feel that way?
Could it be he is a local boy, moving from Menlo Park to Pleasanton when he was 7 and graduating from Foothill High? Or that he has attended more than 100 games at AT&T Park in his dad’s front-row, season-ticket seats? Or that he has been a top prospect since getting drafted in the fourth round out of UCLA in 2008?
Posey also arrived in that draft class, and he reunited with Crawford in the clubhouse Sunday. They sat and amicably chatted in front of Posey’s locker during the catcher’s first visit since his injury.
That sit-down perhaps signified a passing of the popularity torch from the reigning National League Rookie of the Year to the reigning look-alike of actor John Stamos (as designated by first baseman Aubrey Huff).
“I’ve been having a blast watching him,” Posey told Mercury News staff writer Andrew Baggarly. “It’s so cool to see how comfortable he is. From game one, it didn’t look like he had any nerves from an offensive standpoint. And what he’s doing defensively, that’s hard to put into words.”
A lot of pressure comes with playing in your backyard and childhood dreamland. Crawford is thriving on it.
Not bad for a kid who went undrafted out of high school, where he also played three years of football. He started at quarterback as a senior as well as a freshman, when he was coached by John Madden’s son, Mike. Crawford didn’t have a hard time choosing a career path, however.
“My dad basically bred me into a baseball player. It’s his favorite sport,” Crawford replied.
Since being called up to the Giants, Crawford hasn’t had a chance to sneak back to Pleasanton to visit his family or favorite breakfast spot, Jim’s Country Style Restaurant.
But his parents and two youngest sisters did make it to his home debut Friday night, and he delivered a two-out RBI double in a 3-1 victory. That playmaking ability resonated up the family tree: His mother, Lynn, caught a foul ball off Andres Torres’ bat.
For good reason, Bochy is committed to Crawford as his shortstop for the foreseeable future. Not even third baseman Pablo Sandoval’s imminent return from a broken hand should push Crawford to the bench in favor of fading veteran Miguel Tejada.
Wednesday’s seventh inning punctuated that case, both defensively and offensively.
Crawford made a diving stop of Wilson Ramos’ grounder behind second base, then gunned a throw to first base that beat Ramos by three steps. Most important, it prevented Mike Morse from racing home from second for a potential tiebreaking run.
“That play up the middle, we just haven’t seen that in a while,” Bochy said.
Bochy later elaborated on the humble tasks asked of whoever starts at shortstop: have good hands, make routine plays and assist dominant pitching such as Matt Cain’s complete game Wednesday.
Tejada came aboard this year as a one-year stopgap. While Tejada fills in at third base, Crawford is seizing the shortstop job, although he isn’t boasting about such ownership.
“I still look at the lineup card every day,” Crawford said.
In the bottom of the seventh, Crawford drilled a two-out, full-count curveball to the base of the right-center wall, scoring Cody Ross for a 2-1 lead. Crawford considered that hit a bigger confidence boost than his earlier defensive gem, simply because it was his first major league hit off a left-hander, Sean Burnett.
It didn’t trump, however, his first home run: a grand slam at Milwaukee in his May 27 debut.
Before Wednesday’s game, Crawford was winning over fans by signing autographs. Don’t think of that as a rookie’s ego trip.
“I do (autographs) because I’ve been there before and know how it is,” said Crawford, recalling how he got Willie Mays’ autograph during a childhood visit to spring training.
When it comes to positive signs, Crawford’s arrival has come at the right time for the Giants.
— Column by Cam Inman, Contra Costa Times
