Homegrown Carl Crawford set to be inducted into Rays’ Hall of Fame
ST. PETERSBURG — The first time Carl Crawford was at Tropicana Field didn’t go very well.
It was shortly before the 1999 draft, and the Devil Rays scouts who had been very high on the extremely athletic high schooler from inner-city Houston wanted their bosses, and owner Vince Naimoli, to see why Crawford would be worth taking — and paying to pass on a college offer to play quarterback at Nebraska.
“The workout was just, um, fair at best,” then-general manager Chuck LaMar recalled Friday. “That happens a lot. Sometimes players have bad days. Sometimes they get nervous, never having been in that situation before.
“But I’ll never forget our scouting department saying, ‘Don’t get off this player. We know the workout didn’t go great, but this is a gifted athlete with what we called a very high ceiling. A very, very talented player.’”
The Rays drafted Crawford anyway, with the first pick in the second round (52nd overall). They signed him for a then-relatively hefty $1.245 million, developed him, promoted him to the majors just before his 21st birthday and allowed him to learn and improve as he went.
Saturday, Crawford returns to Tropicana Field as one of the most accomplished and successful players in franchise history and the third and final inductee of the inaugural class of the team Hall of Fame (following Don Zimmer and Wade Boggs), with a pregame ceremony planned.
Crawford, 42, played nine seasons for the Rays, helping lead their transformation from losers to contenders and making a franchise most-matching four All-Star teams before leaving as a free agent after the 2010 season to sign with Boston.
His 35.6 WAR rating (per baseball-reference.com) is second-best in Rays franchise history, behind Evan Longoria. Crawford shares the major-league record with six steals in a game. He still holds several team single-season records, including triples (19), runs (110) and steals (60). He is the Rays’ all-time leader in batting average (.296, minimum 1,200 plate appearances), hits (1,480), triples (105), steals (409) and sacrifice hits (31).
“His success is a tribute to his work ethic and his consistency,’’ LaMar said. “He came to the ballpark and played every day. He was almost like an unsung leader of the club. He wasn’t a rah, rah, real vocal-type player. And yet he brought his energy.
“There was an energy about him, not only because of his athleticism and his foot speed, but there was an energy from his personality. He had a smile on his face, and he just came to the ballpark ready to play every day. And that rubbed off on his teammates. …
“Carl deserves all the credit in the world for coming from where he came from to four-time All-Star, and now in the Rays Hall of Fame.”
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