SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Crawford is retiring after 14 major league seasons, all but one played with his hometown San Francisco Giants as a shortstop and fan favorite.
A four-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, the veteran infielder announced his decision in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“At this time of year, I am constantly reminded of the things in my life that I am most grateful for. Baseball is one of them. Crawford wrote. “Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for the rest of my life I will be grateful for the opportunities and experiences it has given me. Time is precious. I’m incredibly grateful for all the years I’ve spent playing the game I love, but now it’s time for me to spend it with the people I’m most grateful for. Thank you to all of you who have been there for me throughout the years. It has been an incredible adventure.
A fourth-round pick in 2008 out of UCLA, Crawford made his debut on May 27, 2011 and won World Series championships with the Giants in 2012 and 2014 – the last two titles in their biennial run starting in 2010. -14.
“Congratulations to Craw on an outstanding career,” former Giants manager Bruce Bochy, now with Texas, said via text message. “Just a wonderful story of a kid becoming one of the best shortstops in the history of the San Francisco Giants, the team he grew up with and loved.”
The Giants said they will honor Crawford’s career on April 26 at Oracle Park. He was a career .249 hitter with 147 home runs and 748 RBIs, but many will long remember his knack for making the key defensive play.
“It was an honor to get to know Brandon as a friend and teammate,” new Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said in a statement. “From the first day we were drafted in 2008 until our final year playing together in 2021, it was an honor to play alongside him for 14 years. Whether it’s the signature moments like the grand slam he hit in the 2014 wild-card game in Pittsburgh, the franchise record seven hits he recorded in Miami, or the dazzling defensive plays and acrobatic throws that he performed again and again. , Brandon left his mark like few athletes do.
Some thought Crawford might retire after the 2023 season, when his contract expired in San Francisco, but he decided to give it one more year and joined the St. Louis Cardinals on a one-year deal. 2 million dollars. He was released in August after hitting .169 with a home run and four RBIs in 80 plate appearances.
Crawford and his wife Jalynne have five young children and family will be Crawford’s main concern going forward.
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is married to Crawford’s sister, Amy, and has applauded everything Crawford has done on and off the field.
“Brandon is an incredible teammate, competitor and the greatest Giants shortstop of all time,” Cole said in a text message. “He has been an incredible brother to me and an incredible role model for future shortstops and kids with championship dreams. I was fortunate to share some special moments with him along the way, my major league debut, our first All-Star Game, and receiving roster cards at Yankee Stadium. He has made a lasting impact on the game we love and leaves knowing he has the respect and admiration of everyone who has crossed his path, both on and against his team. I love you my brother.
As a boy, Crawford would lean on the railing of Candlestick Park with his hat backwards to support his beloved Giants – and would eventually play for them.
When he signed a two-year, $32 million contract In August 2021, while wrapping up a six-year, $75 million contract he signed in November 2015, Crawford expressed gratitude for playing in one place for so long.
“Being drafted by my hometown team and spending the majority of my career with them has far exceeded any of my childhood dreams,” Crawford wrote in Wednesday’s post. “I definitely pretended to win a World Series in my backyard – but to win two? It was beyond my wildest dreams.
He is the Giants’ career leader in games played at shortstop with 1,617.
“Watching Brandon play has been an absolute privilege not only for me but for Giants fans everywhere,” said President and CEO Larry Baer.
“He was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, two-time World Series champion and Lou Gehrig and Willie Mac Award winner, who always conducted himself with class, honor and respect. The Giants were incredibly fortunate to have Brandon with the franchise for 16 years – in fact for 37 years, first as a young fan, who will forever forget that indelible photo of him leaning on the Candlestick railing Park when he gets there. There was a possibility his Giants would leave San Francisco – and as this chapter of his career ends, his legacy in the game will be celebrated by fans, teammates and future generations of players who look up to him by example that he gave.
