page_title: Carl Crawford
section_title: 2002–06
hierarchical_section_title: Carl Crawford / Professional career / Major leagues / Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays (2002–10) / 2002–06
caption_attribution_description: Photo by Googie Man 20:54, 30 April 2006 . . Googie man . . 428×700 (312 KB)
context_page_description: Carl Demonte Crawford, nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He batted and threw left-handed.
  Crawford was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the second round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft. He played in Major League Baseball for the Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. When he last played, Crawford had more triples than any other active baseball player.
context_section_description: Crawford made his Major League debut at the young age of 20 on July 20, 2002 against the Toronto Blue Jays. His first hit was in that game, a two RBI single off Steve Parris. He hit his first home run on August 10 off Shawn Sedlacek of the Kansas City Royals. He played in 63 games for the Devil Rays in 2002, batting .259 with 9 stolen bases.
  In 2003, he played nearly every day, batting .281 with 54 RBI and led the league with 55 steals. Along with Juan Pierre, Crawford was co-winner of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum James "Cool Papa" Bell Legacy Award for 2003.
  In 2004, Crawford stole 59 bases, again leading the league and posting the second-highest total in the majors that season. He batted .296 with 11 home runs and 55 RBIs. Crawford also hit a league-leading 19 triples. He was selected for the All Star Game, played in his hometown of Houston, and was named Devil Rays team MVP in 2004 by the BBWAA.
  Crawford batted .301 in 2005, becoming just the third .300 hitter in Devil Rays history, joining Aubrey Huff (.311 in 2003) and Fred McGriff (.310 in 1999). Crawford also posted career highs in hits (194), home runs (15), and RBI (81). He again led the league with 15 triples and placed third in steals (46).
  On July 5, 2006 against the Boston Red Sox, Crawford became only the eighth player in history to get 200 stolen bases before his 25th birthday. Crawford finished the season with career highs in batting average (.305) and home runs (18), joining Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby as the only players in Major League history to increase their batting average and home run totals every year for five straight years. He won a Fielding Bible Award for his defensive excellence in left field during the season.
caption: Crawford going back to the dugout in 2006
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