Boston Red Sox Coco Crisp

crisp playing boston red sox in 2007.

crisp signed three-year contract extension worth $15.5 million. crisp broke left index finger attempting steal third base , spent next 42 games on disabled list , finished season broken left index finger. after returning red sox outfield on may 28, kevin youkilis had taken on leadoff spot, , crisp batted 7th or 8th in line-up rest of year. in 105 games, had .264 batting average 8 home runs , 36 rbi. besides injury, crisp s 2006 season may best remembered catch against new york mets on june 29.

2007 season

crisp began 2007 season struggling offensively due lingering effects of off season surgery left index finger . on april 20, 2007, crisp fell on short wall @ fenway park while trying catch home run alex rodriguez. although unable make catch, missing inches, hit game-tying triple off mariano rivera in bottom of eighth, scored go-ahead run on alex cora s soft line drive single. red sox went on win 7–6. during season, made numerous impressive catches in outfield. has been claimed 1 major league club crisp best defensive center fielder in of major league baseball. although struggled @ plate throughout of season, between june 13 , july 23, crisp raised batting average .221 .284, .402 average during span. on june 18, entering game 2 home runs in season, crisp belted 2 homers in first multi-hr game of career in 9–4 loss atlanta braves.

on august 5, crisp run on seattle mariners mascot, mariner moose. moose, driving lap around safeco field s warning track on atv, collided crisp leaving dugout position in middle of fifth inning; crisp had jump out of way avoid being hit. red sox pitching coach john farrell incensed mascot s actions , voiced displeasure both mascot , seattle s head groundskeeper. following incident, red sox received apology mariners gm bill bavasi.

on october 21, in game 7 of american league championship series, crisp made catch sent boston second world series in 4 seasons. hit wall shortly after making catch, minorly injuring himself in process. despite this, enough play in world series.

although team s starting center fielder throughout 2007 season, benched mid-series during alcs rookie jacoby ellsbury. remained benched 2007 world series, appearing late in games defensive substitutions.

2008 season

bench-clearing brawl on june 5, 2008.

on june 4, crisp center of controversy in game against tampa bay rays. while crisp trying steal second base in bottom of sixth inning, rays shortstop jason bartlett purposely placed knee in front of bag in attempt prevent crisp stealing base. crisp stole base, not happy this. on base again in bottom of eighth inning, attempted steal, time taking out second baseman akinori iwamura on hard slide. slide controversial , catalyzed payback pitch following game. during pitching change in inning, rays manager joe maddon , crisp argued, crisp in dugout , maddon on pitching mound. after game, crisp said thought bartlett cover bag, instead (bartlett) chose tell iwamura take throw in eighth inning. crisp described bartlett s knee in front of bag dirty play. next game, in crisp s first @ bat in bottom of second, leading off inning sox 3–1, rays starter james shields hit him on thigh on second pitch. crisp charged mound , first dodged punch shields, , threw glancing punch @ shields , set off bench-clearing brawl. crisp, jonny gomes, , shields ejected game. major league baseball suspended crisp 7 games due actions in brawl. upon appeal, suspension reduced 5 games, had served of june 28, 2008. in game 5 of alcs, coco crisp had game-tying hit in bottom of 8th inning cap boston s 7-run comeback. boston go on win game 8–7 walk-off single in ninth inning j. d. drew, lose series in 7 games.

crisp kansas city royals in 2009 spring training.