Red Sox Continue Tradition Of Great Leftfielders With Crawford

The signing of Carl Crawford by the Red Sox makes them an early favorite to win the 2011 World Series. It also continues the tradition of the Red Sox employing one of the top leftfielders in the game. Crawford now joins a lineage that includes Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, and Manny Ramirez. Williams, Yaz, and Rice are already in the Hall of Fame and that trio will be joined in Cooperstown, New York by Ramirez when he retires. The Red Sox have also had the likes of Mike Greenwell and Jason Bay patrol the real estate in Fenway Park that resides in the shadows of the Green Monster. Neither player will ever have a bust in Cooperstown but both were very good players for the Sox. Here's hoping that Crawford joins the parade of Red Sox leftfielders that have been enshrined into baseball immortality. For a player with the ability to hit for average and power, run the bases, and cover large areas in the outfield, it would not be a surprising development to see him be included in the Williams-Yaz-Rice-Ramirez discussion in the near future.