Crawford’s walkoff hit qualifies as a bright spot - 美國職棒

原文→http://tinyurl.com/42n4tee

Carl Crawford was essentially the worst hitter in the American League when he
arrived at Fenway Park yesterday. Among qualified players, he had the third-
lowest batting average, the lowest slugging percentage, and the lowest on-base
percentage.

But he left a hero.

Crawford grounded a single into center field with two outs in the bottom of
the ninth inning, scoring Jed Lowrie from third base to give the Red Sox a
3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

As Crawford rounded first base he was chased down and embraced by his team-
mates, with Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and Jacoby Ellsbury leading a fren-
zied charge from the dugout.

“I think we needed that. It was fun to watch everybody jump on him,”manager
Terry Francona said after the first walkoff victory of the season for the Sox.
“That’s got to be good for him. It’s really good for us. Seeing him coming
off that field with that smile, I have a feeling it will go a long way.”

There have been only rare good days for Crawford since he signed a seven-year,
$142 million deal with the Sox in December. An uneven spring training led to
the worst start of his career as Crawford hit .155 in April and scored just
six runs. His on-base percentage was a paltry .204.

Francona twice has benched Crawford and last week dropped him to eighth in the
batting order to try to ease the pressure on him.

“We all see how hard the guy works and you know it’s going to come for him,”
said Adrian Gonzalez, a newcomer whose transition has been much smoother.
“You hope today is where he takes off.”

That Crawford had a chance to win the game in the ninth inning was unexpected.
With one out, Lowrie hit what looked like a routine fly ball to right field.

But Ichiro Suzuki, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, lost the ball in the sun. It
struck him on the right leg and rolled into the corner, allowing Lowrie to go
to third base with what was ruled a triple.

“Right when it hit the sky, I couldn’t see the ball at all,”Ichiro said
through interpreter Antony Suzuki. “It just disappeared.”

With the infield in, Marco Scutaro grounded to third base. Crawford was next.

“I didn’t have to try and hit the ball in a gap,”he said.“I knew a base
hit would win it. I was trying to tell myself to try not to do too much. Just
go back up the middle.”

Crawford took two fastballs from Jamey Wright, the second a strike. A third
fastball was hit hard up the middle, bouncing off the mound and through to
center.

Crawford couldn’t remember the last time he felt so good about a ground-ball
single.

“Everything I hit, it seems like it’s an out,”he said.“To see it get
through, it was like a big weight was off my shoulders.”

Crawford’s diligence has impressed his new teammates. He is one of the first
players to the park every day and is thorough in his preparation. That only
served to make his slump more confounding.

“I know what the results are, or haven’t been,”Francona said.“Our guys
see what he’s doing and how hard he’s working and how much he cares.”

That was reflected in the celebration. The players seemed to be in a race to
be the first to hug Crawford.

“Things aren’t going the way he wants it to, but once he clicks, he’s
going to be there,”Ortiz said.“I think the owner and the front office did
a great job picking up a player like that, because that’s what people like
to see here — guys who hustle, guys who play hard, and guys who play the
game every day. And, right now, I guarantee people are going to see a lot of
it.”

That kind of support has been meaningful to Crawford.

“The guys have my back and they really care about getting me going,”he said.
“They understand I’m going through some things. They’ve been really good
at trying to get me going and I appreciate that.”

The victory came on a day when the Sox sent 44-year-old spot starter Tim
Wakefield out to face reigning Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez.

Hernandez allowed two runs over seven innings and struck out 10. Ortiz had a
two-run double in the third inning.

Wakefield, making his first start of the season, left the game with a 2-0
lead with two outs in the sixth inning. Bobby Jenks tarnished that
performance by walking in two runs.

Despite having pitched one inning over the previous 12 days, Wakefield threw
76 pitches. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk.

“I actually was shocked that I got into the sixth inning, to be honest with
you,”Wakefield said.

After Jenks melted down, Matt Albers and Jonathan Papelbon (1-0) were perfect
for three innings. With some help from the sun, that set the stage for
Crawford.

Wakefield watched the ninth inning from the clubhouse and said he had a
feeling Crawford would win it.

“Absolutely,”he said.“Perfect ending to a great game.”

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每天第一個到場訓練，非常勤奮。
教練和隊友都被感動…同時相信他將回歸！

當他今天再見安打，所有人都搶著去抱他、ｋ他…

新綠色怪物看守人，加油！！

ps.英文爛極，不敢亂翻。

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Year Age Tm G AB H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+
1941 22 BOS 143 456 185 37 120 147 27 .406 .553 .735 235
1942 23 BOS 150 522 186 36 137 145 51 .356 .499 .648 217
1943–1945 n/a 二戰入伍
1946 27 BOS 150 514 176 38 123 156 44 .342 .497 .667 215
1947 28 BOS 156 528 181 32 114 162 47 .343 .499 .634 205

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