Michael Holley calls former Red Sox OF Carl Crawford ‘soft’

Carl Crawford made clear in the previous days that his time with the Boston Red Sox wasn't exactly the most heart-warming time of his life. In fact, his exact words were: "That was one of the toughest times in my life, ever, from when I was a little kid, 1 year old."

So, yeah, not too flattering. The Boston media did not respond too sympathetically to Crawford's claims, and color WEEI's Michael Holley no different.

"This is an example of a guy who is just soft, he's soft and he's hearing whispers in his own head," Holley said. "Nobody told Carl Crawford, 'You've got the money now, so you have to start being a 25-30 home run hitter."

"All people wanted him to do was what he did in Tampa, and what he wanted was, he wanted the paycheck but he didn't want the spotlight that came with the paycheck."

If that was harsh, we haven't even scratched the surface. The Sports Hub's Rob Hardy felt that Crawford was actually treated better in Boston than most players in his situation.

And with that context, it makes Crawford's insulting comments all the more disturbing.

"He had the closest thing to a pass that an athlete making that kind of money in this town has gotten in a long time and he wasn't kicked on his way out the door either," Hardy said. "Beckett, everybody had something to say about him, Crawford was a guy who came in here, didn't perform and a lot of people didn't like the money and didn't like another lefty, fine but nobody was begging him to a home run in every at bat or go 5-for-5."

"If I were him making $20 million per year, I would put [that high standard] upon myself, I would feel embarrassed if I played the way he did and maybe that's where it comes from," Hardy said. "Maybe he was embarrassed at what happened with his time in Boston."

- CSN New England