Giants legend and long-time shortstop Brandon Crawford has introduced his retirement in a put up on his private Instagram account Wednesday. The Giants introduced, through Justice delos Santos of The Mercury Information, that Crawford will likely be celebrated on the membership’s upcoming recreation on April 26, when they are going to be internet hosting the Rangers, managed by Crawford’s former skipper Bruce Bochy.
“Rising up within the Bay Space and going to video games at Candlestick,” Crawford says, “I at all times dreamed of taking part in for the San Francisco Giants. Being drafted by my hometown crew and spending most of my profession with them far surpassed any dream I had as a child. I positively pretended to win a World Sequence in my yard — however profitable two? That was past my wildest goals.”
He goes on to specific gratitude to that group in addition to the Cardinals, his relations, coaches, teammates, followers and lots of others who he crossed paths with.
As Crawford himself talked about, he may hardly have requested for extra of the platonic childhood baseball dream. In 2008, he was drafted by the membership he grew up cheering for, with the Giants deciding on him within the fourth spherical out of UCLA. In 2010, the Giants received the World Sequence, their first title because the membership moved from New York to San Francisco. Nevertheless, Crawford was nonetheless a minor leaguer at the moment.
He was capable of make his main league debut in late Could 2011, and he did so in memorable style. In his first recreation within the present, he hit a grand slam within the seventh inning, his first main league hit. That gave the membership a 5-3 lead over the Brewers they usually held on to win 5-4. Regardless of that notable begin, the primary season wasn’t nice general. He hit simply .204/.288/.296 and solely obtained into 66 video games. The Giants completed 86-76 and missed the playoffs.
In 2012, Crawford took a firmer maintain of the shortstop job in San Francisco, moving into 143 video games. His offense nonetheless wasn’t particularly spectacular but it surely was higher than the yr prior and his protection was properly regarded. The membership went 94-68, profitable the Nationwide League West and advancing to the postseason. Crawford hit simply .217/.321/.283 within the playoffs however the Giants went on to defeat the Reds, Cardinals and Tigers, incomes their second title in three years.
