Brandon Crawford doesn’t like being the center of attention, but there he was at 10:19 a.m., the only Giant on the field, taking grounders off the bat of longtime coach Ron Wotus.
Crawford, the 36-year-old franchise icon, could be playing his last game as a Giant — or at all — on Sunday afternoon against the Dodgers. The organization’s greatest shortstop of all time is leading off and playing the position he manned more than any Giant ever in the 2023 regular season finale.
After Crawford wrapped up his on-field warmup, he hugged assistant coach Alyssa Nakken and headed to the base of the dugout steps to sign autographs. It’s a ritual that started while he was a kid and continued over the course of his 13-year career.
Crawford’s 1,654th game could be his last, at least as a Giant. The two-time World Series winner struggled to stay on the field this year and hit .197 when he was available. Not many players with that kind of stat line in such a stage of his career attract much interest on the free agent market.
But Crawford has been coy about his future plans, saying he’ll have conversations with his family about what’s to come once the offseason begins.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the end of Crawford’s career, the Oracle Park crowd will get to celebrate him on Sunday afternoon. His four children will throw out the ceremonial pitches, and the Giants have other festivities planned for him. In the clubhouse pregame, a highlight reel from his career played on some of the locker room televisions.
When interim manager Kai Correa informed Crawford he’d be leading off, he said they joked about his on-base percentage. Correa had said previously that the team didn’t want to do anything “half-baked” for Crawford’s possible last game, and letting him hit leadoff gives him the opportunity to maximize the day.
If it is a send-off, Crawford has earned a festive one.
“We’re hopeful today is representative of that — what he has meant to this community, what he has meant to this organization, what he’s meant for the fans, for his teammates,” Correa said. “To try to make sure he gets his flowers.”
- A Giants win in the season finale would deny the Dodgers of their 100th win and make the Giants the first franchise to win multiple season series against LAD since 2020. San Francisco also won the season series against Los Angeles in 2021.
- After playing eight rookies in their 2-1 win over the Dodgers Saturday night, the Giants are starting just four — Tyler Fitzgerald, Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt along with starter Kyle Harrison. Harrison is making his seventh start of the year and looking to build on an up-and-down first taste of the big leagues.
- Crawford’s annual season finale playlist is highlighted by “Trucks Don’t Lie” for Logan Webb and “Platoon” for Austin Slater.