SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford has played in precisely 1,601 games in his Major League career. Up until Sunday, he had only played at one defensive position -- shortstop.
Now he can add ¡°pitcher¡± to his resume.
¡°I doubt many guys have played only shortstop for 1,600 games and pitched one game. I'm on a list by myself, I think,¡± Crawford said.
A 13-3 blowout is usually not a time for fans to rise to their feet and start cheering as if something big just happened.
That is, unless a fan favorite who had previously been given the day off was finally granted a wish he¡¯s had for a while now -- pitching in a big league game.
Oracle Park got loud -- very loud -- in the ninth inning of the Giants¡¯ handy win over the Cubs. Fans pulled out their phones to take pictures. Chants of ¡°Let¡¯s go Crawford!¡± cascaded down from all corners of the ballpark.
And Crawford, a two-time World Series champ, three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glover and one of the most popular Giants in their rich and star-studded history, gave the people what they wanted -- a scoreless inning.
After the game, the chair at Crawford¡¯s locker contained two items -- the game ball and the lineup card. Crawford emphasized a few key points: He had about five or six warmup tosses before being called for his big debut, he hit 90 mph once on the radar gun and his ERA is now a sterling 0.00, which he¡¯ll be happy to remind his pitching teammates about in the coming days and weeks.
¡°I always give pitchers a hard time about it not being that hard. So I think I proved today that it's not,¡± Crawford quipped. ¡°They probably don't love that I have a zero ERA, because I'll continue to give them a hard time about it.¡±
This is all in good fun, of course -- similar to the types of conversations Crawford has had with manager Gabe Kapler about trying his hand at pitching. It¡¯s something Crawford has wanted to do for years. Sunday presented the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.
Kapler approached Crawford about the subject in the top of the eighth inning, and after a quick bottom-half, it was go time.
¡°We kind of talked it through, and he got loose in the cage and started to get excited about it,¡± Kapler said. ¡°It's obviously a really cool moment for everybody in the stadium, including the dugout and all of us in the organization. It was fun to see him get that opportunity.¡±
¡°In high school and in college, I felt like I had like decent stuff to where maybe I would have been able to [pitch] in a different life or something like that,¡± Crawford said. ¡°So it was kind of fun to to go back out there and do it.¡±