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UCLA SS Brandon Crawford gives the Cardinals an added punch in the lineup

Crawford Lands In Cardinals Lineup, Finally

SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) wasted no time getting on the field when he finally made his way to Orleans

June 21, 2007

By: Jon Tosches - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Orleans, Massachusetts – The Orleans Cardinals have a roster filled with college stars with the potential to be future Major League players.  Last night, Brandon Crawford, fresh off his second dazzling season for the Bruins of UCLA, got a glimpse of the ever-changing travel life of a professional athlete. 

Crawford boarded his plane on Tuesday in hopes to watch a movie or two, eat the six stale pretzels that airlines provide on a cross country flight, take a quick nap, and wake up in Providence, RI in order to get to Orleans early enough to prepare himself for summer ball.  Oh, if it were only that easy.  Just ask Sue Horton.  The Cardinals GM got the honor of picking up Crawford at the airport.  The good news is that there was no traffic on Rt. 6 and they made great time; the bad news being the fact that it was 3:00am when they finally made it back to Cape Cod.

“There was a bad storm over Baltimore and we were doing circles in Missouri for a few hours before we were forced to land in St. Louis to re-fuel,” said the jet-lagged slugging shortstop. Welcome to Cape Cod, Brandon, and by the way, you are starting at shortstop and batting 3^rd tonight (Wednesday). 

The passionate Cardinals fans are excited to have Crawford’s bat in the lineup this summer. The sophomore was a leader for the Bruins this spring batting .335 while belting 7 home runs and driving in 55 runs as the team’s shortstop.  His performance earned him team Most Valuable Player award and an All Pac-10 selection.  Former Cardinals standouts to receive All Pac-10 honors include Jeff Conine (UCLA), JT Snow (Arizona), and Aaron Boone (USC).

The Cardinals’ coaching staff is also thrilled to write Crawford’s name on the lineup card at Eldredge Park this summer. 

“We think we have the best shortstop in the country playing for Orleans this summer,” said Field Manager Kelly Nicholson.  “He could have easily started at short for Team USA but chose to come to the Cape.”

The decision to start Crawford after his late night adventure was a no-brainer for the veteran manager.  “I am not going to waste his talents and have him sit on the bench.  We are going to get him in the lineup as fast as we can.” 

In his season debut Crawford went 0-for-3 but turned a game-changing 1-6-3 double play that kept Wareham off the board and preserved the 1-0 win for the Cardinals.  Wednesday’s game was a preview of what the shortstop will bring to the Cape this summer.  Just wait and see what he can do when he sleeps the night before.