Carl Crawford a Natural in First Day in Red Sox Uniform, Terry Francona Glad to Have Outfielder Aboard

FORT MYERS, Fla. — About 20 minutes before the first pitch of the Red Sox-Twins game Monday afternoon, Carl Crawford emerged from the dugout and jogged down the left-field line to get in some light sprints.

A throng of fans erupted for the club's new left fielder, who was moments from making his debut in a Boston uniform. Before he began to get those legendary legs moving, Crawford took a moment for himself.

"I was just trying to take it all in," he said. "You still think about, I'm actually in a Red Sox uniform, and thinking about that stuff. I was kinda trying to take it all in and trying to focus on the game at the same time."

Hours earlier, Crawford was in the clubhouse putting on his uniform when manager Terry Francona approached and told him how much he used to hate the speedy outfielder when he was with Tampa Bay, and how much he loves him now.

Showing how comfortable he is at this early stage of his Red Sox career, Crawford gave it right back to the old skipper.

"He just looked at me, saw I was getting ready to go, he was like, 'Man, I used to hate you,'" Crawford said. "I was just like, 'Yeah, I felt the same way too.' It's great that we're on the same team now. We're all together now."

Crawford went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the 7-6 win. While he didn't factor in any of the offense, he knows he will down the road. Still, he managed to exhibit one other reason why the Red Sox wanted him.

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the fifth, Twins outfielder Brian Dinkelman lifted a fly to Crawford in left. Knowing he wouldn't be able to tag and score from third base, Daniel Rohlfing cheated off just a bit, just in case Crawford misplayed it.

In one motion, Crawford made the grab and threw a bullet to third, nearly nailing Rohlfing coming back to the bag. It was a tiny play in a game that didn't see Crawford make all that much of an impact, but it was notable to those who cite him as one of the best defensive outfielders in the game. Crawford almost made the Twins youngster look silly.

The only other significant play in which Crawford was involved was earlier in that same inning when he and Jacoby Ellsbury converged on a ball in the left-center field gap. Ellsbury dove but could not come up with the ball.

In time, Crawford expects one of them to make that catch.

"We plan on taking away base hits," Crawford said of him and Ellsbury. "He just missed out on a good play today that he will probably make in the regular season. I just think we're going to thrive off each other. That's definitely the goal, take away as many hits as possible."