From Danny Knobler on CBSSports.com:

Happy Crawford says of Boston: ‘They love it when you’re miserable’

He takes responsibility for his poor on-field performance during his Red Sox career, which ended abruptly, first with the Tommy John surgery that is still slowing him this spring, then with the trade to the Dodgers that finally sent him to Southern California.

He should already have been there, should have been anywhere but Boston. But he took the money and went to Boston, into the hands of the media he now blames for making him miserable.

“That smile turned upside down quick,” Crawford said. “I think they want to see that in Boston. They love it when you’re miserable.

“Burying people in the media, they think that makes a person play better. That media was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

and later:

“I get it, I didn’t perform,” he said. “I got the money. I didn’t perform. I gave them every reason.”

But Crawford felt the Boston media jumped on every reason he gave them to criticize him.

“I took so much of a beating in Boston, I don’t think anything could bother me anymore,” he said. “They can say what they want — that I’m the worst free agent ever — and it won’t get to me. But it bothered me the whole time there.

Crawford might be right, but he was probably better off just not saying anything.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

13 thoughts on “Crawford: [Boston] “media was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.””

    1. Yes, ironically in his own case, yes, Carl Crawford is wrong.
      Carl Crawford was not treated unfairly by the Boston media at all. In fact he was given a major pass most of the way because his injures were seen as legit.
      The media in Boston didn’t ride Crawford at all.
      I’m actually shocked he has this point of view. I found fans to be much more critical and biting in their commentary of him than the media.
      Just proves what a thin skinned baby Crawford is. Glad he’s gone.

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      1. Nah. They didn’t believe him. Thought he was dogging it because he started the season so crappy. Plus, the media didn’t get on Tito for dropping Crawford in the order after a pair of 0-fers. Anyone else with his track record would have been sitting up in that second spot for 4 weeks. Crawford didn’t live up to the contract in the short time he was here, but let’s face it, Boston had an All-Star LF and we blew it.

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        1. I disagree, whitey. Crawford got more media flak because he was mediocre on the field in 2010 when he did play, than because he was hurt. The guy overtrained himself into oblivion because he put too much pressure on himself. He simply has a bad conscience about his time in Boston. Theo got more abuse for signing him than Crawford himself received.

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  2. Wow, Carl Crawford just uncovered my eyes and ears. I had no idea that the Boston media and fan-base was tough?

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  3. Excuse me? This guy got an ENORMOUS free pass here. I don’t remember anyone riding him at all, at least not initially. The only time he took some heat was when he made the cryptic “ask the captain” comment and even then he come off as the professional.

    I’ve been a huge Crawford fan and thought he’d eventually come around here in Boston. But this just pisses me off.

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  4. The Boston Media and fans are tough to the point of ridiculous at times but he didn’t come close to performing. He should have kept quiet.

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    1. Why keep quiet? He’s absolutely right about the media. Theyre the worst people in the world. And many fans revel in failure as well. He’s not blaming anyone for his failures, he’s just pointing out how awful they are.

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  6. Yeah, uh, I think he’d be happier if he just didn’t attract more attention. (Also, LA has its own bunch of media trolls, hi TJ Simers.)

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    1. Yeah, Beckett’s one to talk. The guy who went from Cy Young contention (at least a respectable second) in August 2010 to being one of the worst pitchers in baseball in September really needs to blame someone else. Because Michael Felger forced him to suck.

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