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Rays/MLB

Best leader for Rays? Crawford

By GARY SHELTON
Published July 23, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - There is nothing like the follies of the young to make a man feel old. And so the veteran sat at his locker, shaking his head.

Kids today get too much and too soon and too easily, he suggested. They are too loud and too reckless and too cocky. His voice sounded weary. His eyes looked as if they had seen too much already.

Carl Crawford is 24, and already, the kids are aging him.

Someday, and Crawford knows this, it will all come back to him. From the day his cleats first touched the turn, he has owned leftfield as if it were his back yard. The basepaths are his, too, deeded to him by the way he corners, like a NASCAR driver, as he attempts to steal a game with his speed.

Someday, too, he will inherit the clubhouse. It is inevitable. On a team where the veterans always seem to leave, where the kids always seem to be on the way, Crawford's voice will soon become the most important in the room.

If this team is ever to go anywhere, it will require a leader.

Does anyone have a better nominee than Crawford?

He is young, too young, to be the voice of experience. Spend 20 minutes talking to Crawford about leadership and he will point out that he just got here himself, that he hasn't accomplished anything, that he still has a lot to learn. When most major-league teams are looking for leaders, they do not think about a player who is as close to being a teenager as he is a 30-year-old.

That said, the Rays are different, as is Crawford. Already, he has played in more games as a Devil Ray than anyone else on the roster, and already, he is the best player in the history of the franchise.

Look around the room, and who else is going to guide this franchise out of the muck? Oh, in the years to come, Rocco Baldelli will be heard from, and Jorge Cantu and Scott Kazmir.

But no one makes more sense than Crawford. He has enough talent to command attention and enough work ethic to demand respect. He is honest to the point of being blunt and intense to the point of being strong-willed. For instance, he went most of last year without speaking to his own hitting coach. That's important, too. To be a leader in today's clubhouses, a player can't always echo the company line.

"The problem with me in that role," Crawford said, grinning slightly, "is that I'm not a guy who says things nicely. When I have something to say, it's heartfelt and direct. I don't know how to sugarcoat everything. I have to tell it to you just like it is, and some people can't handle that. They may think I'm being mean or trying to be a jerk or something, but that's not the case. I'm not trying to bother you; I'm trying to help."

This much is clear: If Crawford is to mentor B.J. Upton and Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes, he's got some work to do. The Rays' minor leaguers need an equipment manager just to carry their issues. And, yeah, it seems to annoy Crawford, too.

"Nowadays, with guys getting drafted and getting big signing bonuses, they don't listen to anybody," Crawford said. "They already have their own mind. It's like you can't really tell them anything. You just do what you have to do and hope they follow suit.

"We've got a young team. You look around our locker room and you see young guys doing stuff here you'll never see in other clubhouses. It's just a fact. From talking to other ballclubs, the things the young guys do here, they wouldn't even think about doing anywhere else. Just things that you just don't do.

"It's just different here. They have it real easy, put it that way. It's hard to tell them to do stuff when they already have it so easy. Young guys have it too easy too early. Once they know they aren't going to get into trouble, they aren't going to listen to me or anyone. Too much is handed to them too early.

"You take the team down in Durham for instance. Why do they keep getting in trouble? They already know the system, and they know nothing is going to happen to them. It's like 'whatever.' And they just kind of shrug it off and do it again."

Crawford's voice never rose as he spoke, but there was a flint inside that suggested, yep, this guy could be your sergeant. He could be the guy to put his arm around a young player overwhelmed by the big leagues. He could be the guy to give the steel stare to a player he suspected of cutting corners in his preparation. He could be the guy to stand and call a team meeting.

For most of its history, Tampa Bay has been a leaderless team.

Rays manager Joe Maddon suggests that "clubhouse leader" might be the most overused term in the game. "Usually, it's used to describe a guy who has been around a long time, and usually, the situation is just the opposite." Some veterans lack the temperament to become leaders. Some lack the interest. Some lack the perspective.

"I think Carl has the right temperament," Maddon said. "As he continues to play, the leadership will come. Carl is such a hard worker and such a great student, and he's getting to the point where he can worry beyond himself. He could take the added burden of worrying about someone else on a daily basis.

"Carl will always have the respect. His ability is off the charts, combined with his work ethic that is unparalleled. He just wants to win. What argument does any other player have with him? None."

When Crawford was a younger player, the Rays had Al Martin and Terry Shumpert, both of whom were better leaders than players. Still, Crawford learned.

"You were afraid to even talk on the bus," Crawford said. "You wouldn't even move. Now the young guys are the loudest guys in the clubhouse, coming in whatever time they want to come in. I guarantee you the way young guys act here, they don't act in other organizations.

"It's in the minor leagues, in the clubhouse, everywhere. Other places, rookies are treated like they're nothing. Here, they're treated like they're saviors. I don't understand it. I think the organization is trying to tackle it, but when it's piled that high, it's going to take some time. But it's not the best way for a player to enter a clubhouse.

"If you haven't had a year in the big leagues, you shouldn't say anything. I think it should be a rule to where you shouldn't be able to say anything or do anything different until you've at least gotten to arbitration. Other than that, you haven't done anything. You get guys now, they have one year, and now, it's like I've been in the league for 10 years. One hot month, and it's like they've arrived."

Already, Crawford knows this much about leadership: There is an art to it. It is a matter of when you say something, and how you say it and how often. It is a matter of setting an example.

"If I don't perform, no one is going to listen to me," Crawford said. "I get that."

For now, Crawford says, he will wait his turn. He says he will watch the young players as they arrive. When the time is right, he says, he will speak up.

"I'm going to have to grow into the role," he said. "Things can't stay like this. They just can't."

Ah, but they can, unless someone leads the franchise to a better place.

Eventually, that job will belong to Crawford, too.

[Last modified July 23, 2006, 06:20:38]