ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jon Lester seems to really like in Boston. (He's the pitcher, by the way, who lowered his ERA to 2.44 after throwing a complete game, three-hit shutout, Thursday night.) Just the other day, Mike Lowell relived his decision to take a year less in free agency in order to keep calling Fenway Park.
And remember when Bruce Hurst decided to leave the Red Sox and head to San Diego only to admit later in his career that the decision was the wrong one, having missed all that came with playing home games at Fenway.
And then there's Carl Crawford.
"That place is going to the same forever and I don't want no part of it," Crawford told WEEI.com Thursday night, referencing his professional home for 1 1/2 years, Boston. "I'm happy where I'm at right now."
And Thursday, he chose to advance that narrative.
Question: "Does it seem like a long time ago you played in Boston?"
Answer: "Yeah, it does. I try and put that as far behind me as I can. I would like to feel like that, but it still feels fresh at times. Just because it was one of the toughest times of my life. That's a scar that I think will never go away. I'll always remember that feeling."
Scar?
Crawford went on to elaborate on his discomfort in Boston, which, on it's own, isn't exactly a news flash. But what was of particular interest in these days of analyzing everything and anything related to free agency (especially when it comes to Lester) involved some of the lefty's specific regrets.
"It was just different for me," he said. "Coming from Tampa, from that environment to that environment was so different I didn't really understand what I was getting myself into. I think that was the big thing. There was just such a big difference from what I was used to.
"I definitely wouldn't have went to the highest bidder. If I could have done it over again I would have gone into more detail into everything. I didn't do any research about nothing. I didn't know much about Boston, only when I played there. If I went into a little more depth as to what I was getting myself into things probably would have been a little different."
He added, "Once I realized it and I had seven years I didn't know what to do. It was just one of those things I had to sit out and wait. I was dealing with the struggling at the time and a bunch of other stuff. I had been in Tampa so we had been shielded from a lot of media stuff. I didn't have to go through that stuff. That was new for me, dealing with the media and stuff like that. I didn't how to handle all that stuff up there and it showed in my game. Then I started getting hurt all the time. It was just always bad, bad all the time.
"I would like to think I know when it's time to make big decisions in your life you know to do a little more research," Crawford explained. "Look into a little bit more. I decided to sign with the Red Sox in five minutes. I didn't have no time to think about it. They told me this, bam, 10 minutes later I was signing with the Red Sox. It was one of those things I didn't look into it as much as I should have. I didn't call other players and ask around. I didn't do nothing. I just had my eye on one thing at the time."
The venom towards all things Red Sox is made even more fascinating when considering the words of players such as Lester and Lowell. As much as the two former Sox offer a myriad of reasons Boston is the best place to play, Crawford counters with just as many negatives.
Crawford still gets emails, and messages via social media, from Red Sox fans holding a grudge regarding the outfielder's tenure with the Sox. And he realizes it didn't help the tenure included just a .254 batting average, .711 OPS, 23 stolen bases and 14 home runs over 161 total games.
He understands some might have liked playing in Boston. He just wasn't one of those people.
"It's to each his own," Crawford said. "I think it's easier for guys who are homegrown. When you're homegrown, it's good. But when you come in from the outside and you don't produce as soon as you get there, that's when you have problems. Adrian [Gonzalez] hit 27 home runs his first year and they were wondering why he wasn't hitting home runs. If they weren't happy with Adrian hitting 27 home runs I knew I was never going to be liked. I knew I was in a bunch of trouble. I just knew I was never going to be able to please the people up there. Once you have that in your head, it's hard to cope with the day to day stuff.
http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/rob-bradford/2014/08/08/carl-crawford-does-not-share-jon-lesters-sent"That just wasn't the place for me. My injuries didn't help, and of course I didn't play well. I know up there I didn't play well and I took their money …. Nobody wants to perform bad, or play bad, it just didn't work out and it wasn't the place for me."
Crawford missed out on that world championship, and hasn't experienced overwhelming success while with the Dodgers (with LA going 100-80 in games he has played). No matter, he said. Playing for the Red Sox -- at the top or bottom of the standings -- is never going to seem palatable for the recently-turned 33-year-old.
"They say everything is different. But you can have a good team, but you can't escape all that other stuff up there," he said. "I don't want to get into all that other stuff. It's good they won a World Series, but I'm pretty sure nothing has really changed."
Players like Lester, Lowell and Hurst might disagree. No matter. They aren't changing Carl Crawford's mind … ever.
Once again, we are reminded of the words offered by Crawford: "to each his own."
"I just think it was a place I wasn't used to," he said. "It was just different. I really can't say it was one thing. It was everything. It was different from what I was used to, and I could never get comfortable up there."