Red Sox fans hoping they could head into this weekend’s big series with the Los Angeles Dodgers without hearing from castoff Carl Crawford are out of luck.
The Dodgers outfielder has opened his mouth, again, to talk about how much he didn’t like his time in Boston. He added a little more this time around, though, saying he’s gunning for a sweep.
“I want to win all three games — bad,” Crawford told the Los Angeles Times. “Then on to the next series.”
Oh, but Carl, it’s never on to the next series — not when you can get your digs in against Boston.
Crawford started his latest outpouring by emphasizing again how much nicer he thinks the Dodgers are compared to his (sort of) two years with the Red Sox.
“You just walk in the clubhouse and you got a positive feel, immediately,” he said.
Crawford was in Boston for 2011 and part of 2012, before he and Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto were sent to Los Angeles for a stash of prospects in a gigantic deal. But saying he was “in Boston” has always been a stretch — injuries hampered Crawford’s time with the Sox, and he had trouble in the spotlight almost immediately. His time in Boston ended up being with a team known for its poor chemistry and late-season collapse, and Crawford himself didn’t play up to expectations.
“That was just a bad experience,” he said. “I definitely felt like I had a chance to get a fresh start with a team, new atmosphere, new environment — new everything.”
Major League Baseball couldn’t have picked a better time to schedule a Red Sox-Dodgers tilt. The final game, on Sunday, marks the anniversary of the big trade.
Crawford is hoping the Sunday game will be the final of three wins for the Dodgers. The team he’s facing — which he might have had a hand in turning into an underperforming mess of poor chemistry during his short tenure — may have other thoughts.
