Major league career Coco Crisp

1 major league career

1.1 cleveland indians
1.2 boston red sox

1.2.1 2007 season
1.2.2 2008 season


1.3 kansas city royals
1.4 oakland athletics
1.5 return cleveland

major league career
cleveland indians

crisp became starting center fielder indians in mid-2002, replacing injured matt lawton. next few seasons, crisp established reputation excellent fielder , speedy baserunner. despite success, crisp had fight roster spot each spring. in 2005, crisp moved left field following emergence of young outfielder, grady sizemore. in final 2 seasons indians, crisp showcased offensive talent batting .297 , .300 31 total home runs , 35 steals.

boston red sox

after johnny damon signed new york yankees, red sox sought crisp fill damon s role both leadoff hitter , in center field. in january 2006, red sox sent prospect third baseman andy marte, pitcher guillermo mota, catcher kelly shoppach, player named later (minor leaguer randy newsom), , cash considerations indians crisp, catcher josh bard , pitcher david riske.

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.


kansas city royals

on november 19, 2008, crisp traded kansas city royals relief pitcher ramón ramírez.

during lone season royals, crisp s started off hot hitting on .300 before batting average fell career low .228 due shoulder injuries. on june 23, 2009, royals manager trey hillman announced crisp receive season ending surgeries repair labrum tear in both shoulders.

oakland athletics

after 2009 season, crisp signed one-year contract oakland athletics worth $5 million, club option 2011. crisp began 2010 season on 15-day dl fractured left pinkie finger.

crisp entered 2011 season exercising one-year option oakland athletics. on august 24, crisp homered both sides of plate against new york yankees. in game, hit game-winning three-run home run in top of 10th inning on first pitch saw against reliever rafael soriano.

crisp re-signed athletics on january 3, 2012, on two-year, $14 million deal club option 2014. crisp had received other offers clubs such baltimore orioles , chicago white sox well, declined them both.

on october 10, 2012, in game 4 of 2012 american league division series against detroit tigers, crisp came bat in bottom of ninth inning. score tied 3–3, there 2 outs , runner on second base (seth smith). s down 3–1 entering inning, subsequently tied game 3 straight hits off detroit pitcher josé valverde, setting stage crisp. came through walk-off single right field scored smith, giving s 4–3 win , forcing decisive game 5. on october 11, 2012 tigers finished off series 6–0 victory on s.

after 2013 season, athletics exercised club option on crisp 2014 season. before 2014 season, crisp signed extension athletics covering 2015 , 2016 seasons. contract guaranteed him $11 million in each of 2015 , 2016 seasons, , had vesting option 2017 season. crisp s playing time reduced in 2016, leading him believe athletics intentionally preventing 2017 option vesting.

in 2015, batted career-low .175 , had lowest on-base percentage (.252) , slugging percentage (.222) of career, on defense played exclusively in left field.

return cleveland

crisp taking batting practice before game 3 of 2016 american league division series

on august 31, 2016, athletics traded crisp cash considerations indians colt hynes. before agreed waive no-trade clause, chris antonetti, indians general manager, spoke crisp tell him not receive enough playing time in cleveland option vest. in 2016, batted .208 cleveland.

on october 10, 2016, against boston red sox in game 3 of alds, crisp hit go-ahead two-run home run, game-winner after indians won 4-3. indians win propelled them alcs against toronto blue jays. crisp s second career postseason home run. however, , cleveland indians not hold on in world series, losing series in game 7 chicago cubs.

crisp became free agent following 2016 season after failed meet contractual incentives have caused vesting option 2017 trigger. in july of 2017, crisp became head coach of shadow hills high school baseball team.