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Oct 1, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) acknowledges the cheers of the crowd as he comes to bat against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Oracle Park, in what could be his final game with the team. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
It’s Brandon Crawford Day on Saturday and the Hollywood screenwriters nailed the timing on this one.
After all, Buster Posey — Crawford’s championship teammate two times over, and his frequent carpool companion from the East Bay to Oracle Park — is now running the Giants. Who better to roll out the red carpet for No. 35?
Wait — we mean the old No. 35; gel-haired, clubhouse DJ Brandon Crawford. Not the new No. 35, Friday’s starting pitcher, Justin Verlander, who is wearing No. 35 only after graciously asking for Crawford’s permission. But we digress.
That Posey is overseeing the full Saturday of tribute for Crawford is symbolic. It was no secret that Crawford’s parting with the former president of baseball operations was not pleasant. While Farhan Zaidi had a job to do, and while empirically speaking, Crawford’s baseball career was, in fairness, winding to a close, it was still bad optics to have the unflappable Crawford a little salty about leaving the orange and black.
Cue the hiring of Posey last October.
Cue Posey stating his theme: “We’re in the memory-making business.”
Cue the Giants’ 17-9 start, third-best record in all of baseball, and already marked by the sort of gritty competitiveness that reminds the fan base of, oh I don’t know, maybe well-timed grand slams in Cincinnati in 2012 and Pittsburgh in 2014?
And now comes the return of Crawford, to Buster’s house, with Buster’s team playing good ball and with — to burnish the theatrics — Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers in town.
Buster, Brandon and Boch. The memory-making business. We should take a moment in between the NFL Draft and scouting Jimmy Butler’s deep glute bruise to appreciate this.
The inspiration for today’s brief Jock Blog was Crawford’s visit with us this morning on the radio. When we asked about his old pal Buster overseeing a 17-9 start, Crawford dropped pretty much a mission statement: “I’m not surprised at all, because anything Buster does, he goes all in on it. He’s as competitive as anybody out there. He wants to win and I feel like the guys just knowing how bad he wants to win and who he is as a person — I feel like that just helps the clubhouse vibe; knowing the goals … so yeah, I’m impressed but not surprised by what Buster’s been doing so far.”
In other words, Posey is hard at work creating the kind of culture that he and Crawford thrived in.
And on a Saturday in April in San Francisco, we get to re-live it — and hope to live it again, in new form.
