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Crawford was a popular Dodger player by twelve seasons. Defensively, he was a gem. He played shallow to cut down bloopers and had a strong arm. Also, he got a good jump on the ball and used his full speed to track down deep flies. Offensively, he was a line-drive hitter, a consistent basepath threat, and an opportune hitter in clutch situations.
Crawford debuted on September 16, 1964 at the age of 17. As a rookie, he batted .312 (5-for-16) with three runs, one double, and stoleBaseball statistics Rickey Henderson, swipes third in 1985 In baseball statistics, stolen bases (denoted by SB is a count of the number of bases successfully stolen by a player. In the 19th century, stolen bases were credited when a baserunner reached an a base. He had a pinch-hit single at age 19 in Game 1 of the 1965See also 1964 in sports, other events of 1965, 1966 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Fred Lorenzen wins the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship Ned Jarrett Indianapolis 500 Jimmy Clark USAC Racing Mario Andretti Formu World SeriesIn baseball, the World Series is the championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, played in October after the end of the regular season between the pennant winner of the American League and the pennant winner of the National League., when the Dodgers beat the Minnesota TwinsBaseball teams The Minnesota Twins are a Major League Baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are in the Central Division of the American League. The team is owned (as of 2004) by Minneapolis businessman Carl Pohlad, the third owner of the clu.
On April 7, 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January, RedsThe Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of the National League. Founded 1869, 1882, or 1890, depending on the account. See below. Formerly known as The Red Stockings in the 19th cent pitcher Gary NolanGary Lynn Nolan (born May 27, 1948 in Herlong, California) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played with the Cincinnati Reds (1967-73, 1975-77) and California Angels (1977). As a 19-year-old hard thrower, Nolan had a prom defeated the Dodgers, 4–0, on a 2-hitter. Both hits were batted by Crawford, in the 4th and 9th innings. In his best season, 1973, he hit .295, with 14 homers and 91 RBI in 145 games. Then, in 1974, he hit .333 and belted a home run against Oakland in the World Series.
Crawford played for the Dodgers through the end of the 1975 season, compiling numbers of .268, 71, 395, in a total of 989 games. He was traded to St. Louis in March 1976. He hit .304 in 120 games for the Cardinals with nine home runs and 50 RBI. He was traded again after the 1976 season. This time, the Cardinals sent Crawford to the San Francisco Giants. He never played for the Giants, being traded to Houston in March 1977. He played 42 games for the Astros and 59 games for Oakland in that season, his last in the major leagues.
Crawford finished his 14-year career, appearing in 1,210 games and hitting .268 with 86 home runs and 419 RBI. His career numbers include 507 runs, 152 doubles, 35 triples, 47 stolen bases, and 431 walks for a .329 on base percentage.
At age 57, Willie Crawford died at his home in Los Angeles and was interred in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.