When It Rains, It Pours For Boston. Red Sox Land Carl Crawford... It's Time To Smile!

Wow, what a week! First the Boston Red Sox bought the services of one of the best first basemen in the major leagues, Adrian Gonzalez. They still needed a bat and a glove in left field. Wednesday night, their wishes (with the help of John Henry's wallet) came true. Carl Crawford will be playing Wall Ball for the next seven years at Friendly Fenway Park, a place that was made for his defensive skills. He's going to love the small confines of the left field territory. He is the second All Star signed by the Sox in roughly a week and the move forces the NY Yankees to put all their eggs on one basket, a basket with Cliff Lee in it. If they don't land him they might fade away into the dusty land that is called third place in the AL East. I'd like that! Here are Carl's regular season career statistics...

HITTING STATISTICS
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2002 TB 63 259 23 67 11 6 2 30 9 41 9 5 .259 .290 .371
2003 TB 151 630 80 177 18 9 5 54 26 102 55 10 .281 .309 .362
2004 TB 152 626 104 185 26 19 11 55 35 81 59 15 .296 .331 .450
2005 TB 156 644 101 194 33 15 15 81 27 84 46 8 .301 .331 .469
2006 TB 151 600 89 183 20 16 18 77 37 85 58 9 .305 .348 .482
2007 TB 143 584 93 184 37 9 11 80 32 112 50 10 .315 .355 .466
2008 TB 109 443 69 121 12 10 8 57 30 60 25 7 .273 .319 .400
2009 TB 156 606 96 185 28 8 15 68 51 99 60 16 .305 .364 .452
2010 TB 154 600 110 184 30 13 19 90 46 104 47 10 .307 .356 .495
Career 1235 4992 765 1480 215 105 104 592 293 768 409 90 .296 .337

He has been remarkably consistent with his batting average hovering near the .300 mark. The seven year, $142 million deal makes him the highest paid outfielder in all of Major League Baseball. Crawford hit .307 with 19 home runs, 90 RBIs, and 47 stolen bases last season for the Tampa Bay Rays. Talk about a solid season! A very happy Boston manager Terry Francona said this upon hearing the news last night...

“He’s that guy that can change a game defensively, offensively. When he gets on base, he gives you a headache."

Give 'em all headaches, CC. Carl will probably bat second, one batter after another premiere base stealer, a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury. Two speedsters on one team, both super fast and both able to cover outfield ground like the Flash of comic book fame. And then comes the power-packed guys in the lineup. Pedey, Gonzalez, Youkilis and Big Papi, not to mention JD Drew bringing up the rear of this lineup's power core. That leaves the numbers eight and nine guys, Scutaro and Salty/Varitek. Now that's a solid lineup, top to bottom, bottom to top. Coupled with the sextet of starters and a bullpen that still needs two additions (Theo's working on it and will get them...100%), Boston will field a first place team in 2011. I didn't hear this news until 5am EST this morning and I've been smiling ever since. I hope you have, too.

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day...oops, sorry, I went off to Oklahoma land but I'm back here in north central Connecticut, where it is 12.5 degrees F. Brr. You can click on this post's title for more on the whirlwind, free spending (!) Boston Red Sox, the team I love. I'm not sure where that link will take you but I'll figure it out. You just have to do the clicking. As always, BE WELL and remember, let's be careful out there.