Carl "Walk-off" Crawford

When the Red Sox signed Carl Crawford in the off-season to a seven year, 142 million dollar contract, they couldn't have envisioned a much worse start for the left fielder. Crawford looked extremely uncomfortable and wasn't relaxed at the plate for all of April. In April, Crawford was 15 for 97 and had a .155 batting average. He had 5 extra base hits in 97 at bats. He also struck out 17 times including 6 strikeouts in 4 games to begin the season. Crawford's numbers don't even look that bad compared to after April 17th when he was 7 for 55 and was batting .127 with just 1 extra base hit in 13 games.

May has been much kinder to Crawford. He is starting to look like the player the Sox signed to a huge contract during the off-season. In May, Crawford's fortunes have changed. He is 20 for 68 in May, which means that in 29 less at-bats, Crawford has five more hits. He is batting .294 during the month and has brought his average up from .155 to .212. 

Crawford has also earned the title of "Papi Jr." as the new clutch Red Sox. His first walk-off hit came on the 1st of May. The Sox has lost two in a row and were struggling at four games under .500 at 11-15. In the bottom of the ninth, Crawford came up with two outs and Jed Lowrie on third. Crawford singled to center to give the sox a 3-2 win a Fenway. Crawford said after the game about the hit, "After seeing it go through the middle, it was like a big weight off my shoulder. It's been a while since I felt this good. It's been tough on me; I can't sit here and act like it hasn't been. But you try to minimize that and keep positive thoughts in your head. As a team, we just wanted to put the month of April behind us," Crawford said. "We wanted to start fresh and act like the month of April never happened." Something began to click for Crawford after that game. He obviously felt like some pressure was off his back and he looked more comfortable, especially after his new teammates mobbed him after his first walk-off hit.

Crawford was not done with his clutch hits just yet. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Crawford came up with a runner on first and one out with the game tied at 1-1. Crawford hit a high shot off the monster and Jose Iglesias came around from first to score the winning run for the Sox. Crawford's hit in the 11th, extended his hitting streak at the time to 9 games dating back to May 1st. Crawford said after the game, "It's always nice to get walk-offs. I'll take 'em all the time. Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said about Crawford, "He's still settling in." Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon added about Crawford, "I think we're seeing a guy that goes out there, that's a great athlete and is doing what he can to pick up the ballclub."

Crawford came through once again for the Red Sox last night in the clutch. The Red Sox were looking for their 6th win in a row lat night against the Tigers at home. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Crawford hit a bases-loaded single to lift the Sox over the Tigers. Crawford said after the game, "You always want to get a hit in those situations," the left fielder said. "You know it's gonna win the game, you definitely don't want to go to extra innings. So you just try to tell yourself to focus a little harder and hope for the best. It's always nice to come through in those situations. I've been struggling so whenever I get a chance to do something good like that it definitely feels good." Red Sox manager Terry Francona said about Crawford hitting yet another wal-off, "It's gotta be good for his confidence. It's a good time to hit, the infield is playing in, the outfield is playing in. He stayed on the ball really well, that's the one thing you don't wanna do -- roll over and pull off -- and he stayed on it really well."

In just the month of May, Carl Crawford has three walk-off hits for the Red Sox. In his last three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Crawford had just 2 walk-off hits.