Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Carl Crawford had to know the questions before
Wednesday's game would be coming fast and furious.
Just hours after it was reported that the Marlins approached the Red Sox about
a possible deal for the left fielder (with Hanley Ramirez and Heath Bell
reportedly coming back in return), Crawford said he was pretty much in the
dark.
"I hadn't really heard too much about it, but there is really nothing to say
about it. You just have to get ready to play every day. Those kind of things
come up and you just shrug it off."
He was asked how disappointed he would be if the Red Sox - after spending all
spring and summer getting him ready - move him
"I don't really know how I feel," said Crawford, who did acknowledge he was
caught off guard by the rumors, especially since his first two games back
couldn't have gone much better.
"Yeah, I was surprised," he said. "I'm still surprised right now, but you know
there is nothing you can really say about that. Anything is possible. Nothing
really surprises me anymore."
Despite the bumpy road so far, including his rough first year of 2011 and the
doubts he heard all winter and spring, he said he still enjoys playing for the
Red Sox.
"Yeah, I like playing here so far when you are doing well," Crawford said.
"When you are doing well it is the best place to play."
The other big news of the day involving Crawford was the development that
Leominster police officer John Perrault had been suspended with pay for the
racial slur he hurled toward Crawford during a rehab stint in Manchester,
N.H., while he was playing for the Red Sox's Double-A affiliate.
"I really don't want to comment on that," Crawford said. "I just want to put
that stuff behind me and move forward.
"It surprised me that he was a police officer. It's disappointing and all of
that kind of stuff but like I said, I just want to put that stuff behind me
and not even worry about that anymore. I'm just disappointed that it had to
happen."
Crawford was asked if he's surprised that he has to still deal with racial
slurs in 2012.
"You would think that we as a nation have grown past that kind of stuff," he
said. "It's one of those things that hopefully that is the last time that sort
of thing happens."
Crawford insisted Wednesday that he is focused only on trying to continue the
start that has seen him go 5-for-7 with three steals and three runs scored his
first two games back.
"I definitely wanted to come out ... like I said, I wanted to come out and get
on a good foot," Crawford said. "Last year I started out slow, this year I
wanted to get out to a fast start. I've got a lot of energy out there playing,
I just wanted to get back out there on the field.
"I am just going to go out there and play. Try to do what I have been doing
the first two games and not even worry about that stuff. It's not the first
time I have been involved in that before so I know how to handle that. I'm not
going to try to do anything extra."
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