Willie Crawford
| Willie Crawford | |||
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: September 7, 1946 Los Angeles, California |
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Died: August 27, 2004 (aged 57) Los Angeles, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 16, 1964, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 1, 1977, for the Oakland Athletics | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .268 | ||
| Home runs | 86 | ||
| Runs batted in | 419 | ||
| Teams | |||
Willie Murphy Crawford (September 7, 1946 – August 27, 2004) was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played with Los Angeles Dodgers (1964–1975), St. Louis Cardinals (1976), Houston Astros (1977) and Oakland Athletics (1977). Crawford was born in Los Angeles, California. He batted and threw left-handed. He was the father of former UCLA football DB Willie Crawford who graduated from Beverly Hills H.S. in 1988.
Crawford was a great all-around athlete at Fremont H.S. in Los Angeles. He was All-City in both football (1963) and baseball. With 9.7 speed in 100 yards, he was a highly recruited running back by colleges to play football. But long-time Dodger Tommy Lasorda, who was then a scout, signed Crawford for the Dodgers for $100,000 two days after he graduated from high school in 1964. Because of the Bonus Rule in existence at the time, Crawford had to play for the Dodgers' major league team in both 1964 and 1965.
As a major league baseball player, defensively, he played in a shallow manner, so as to cut down on potential Texas leaguers. Crawford's strong arm was able to cut down ambitious baserunners. Also, he was able to get a good jump on the ball and used his full speed to track down deep fly balls.
Crawford debuted on September 16, 1964, at the age of 18. As a rookie, he batted .312 (5-for-16) with three runs, one double, and stole a base. He had a pinch-hit single in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series, when the Dodgers defeated the Minnesota Twins.
On April 7, 1970, Reds pitcher Gary Nolan defeated the Dodgers, 4–0, on a 2-hitter. Both hits were batted by Crawford, in the 4th and 9th innings.[1].
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