SF Giants fans shower Brandon Crawford with applause in retirement ceremony

SAN FRANCISCO Brandon Crawford knew how to handle baseball s biggest stages and brightest lights He won two World Series titles He played in three All-Star Games He grew calm with the pressure of those environments But reciting a speech in front of a packed Oracle Park the longest speech he s ever made instilled unparalleled nerves It s far from my favorite thing to be the center of attention all eyes on me Crawford notified reporters but definitely appreciate it and it was definitely a special day All eyes were indeed on Crawford as the crew celebrated his legacy Crawford the hometown kid who played for his hometown organization Crawford the franchise s all-time leader in games played at shortstop Crawford the one-time Silver Slugger two-time champion three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover Crawford the greatest shortstop in franchise history He s the best shortstop we ve ever had in our franchise history reported starter Logan Webb Crawford s teammate from - He s a Bay Area legend He s from here born here grew up a Giants fan I m excited to see the crowd here for him currently Crawford who reported his retirement this past offseason had an idea of how the afternoon would unfold after watching the Giants honor Barry Bonds Will Clark and Buster Posey Ahead of Saturday s ceremony Crawford re-watched Posey s celebration from to make sure my speech was kind of along similar lines spending the majority of his eight minutes at the podium thanking the people who helped him reach his heights as a athlete As a kid growing up here in the Bay Area my dream wasn t just to play in the big leagues Crawford declared It was to play here in this stadium wearing a Giants uniform Somehow I got to live that dream The list of former teammates who attended Saturday s festivities included Posey Matt Cain Hunter Pence Joe Panik Sergio Romo Matt Duffy and Gary Brown but the person who received the loudest non-Crawford applause was former Giants manager Bruce Bochy The cheers for Bochy were so loud and lengthy that the skipper rose from his seat and tipped his cap Before Crawford took the podium to close out the ceremony the video board exhibited a montage of the best moments of Crawford s career from the grand slam in the NL Wild Card tournament to his double play with Panik in the World Series to his litany of defensive highlights After walking out with his family to Jungle by Andre Nickatina his long-time walk-up song he sat and listened to praise offered by Dave Flemming Larry Baer Posey and Hunter Pence Posey delivered the line of the afternoon recalling how he initially thought of Crawford as a Zac Efron wannabe upon first meeting him in the Cape Cod League You could tell right away that he was supremely confident without being cocky at all Posey stated of that first interaction He held in his ability defensively and offensively Fast forward five years he brought the same confidence out here on this field for his entire career While Crawford required a prewritten speech Pence as he is wont to do went from the heart praising Crawford s calmness leadership and flowing hair during his three-minute freestyle At the end of his time Pence appealed the crowd if they were going to miss Crawford playing shortstop for the Giants They in turn replied Yes Yes Yes an allusion to Pence s famous speech over a decade ago You were very calm I was definitely the opposite of that Pence laughed Manager Bob Melvin who never managed Crawford during his -year playing career was not among those who spoke before Saturday s battle As Melvin joked pregame it may have been all for the better I was getting questions all day about what are my favorite Brandon Crawford moments Well I don t have any I have just the opposite laughed manager Bob Melvin You bring in a left-handed matchup and he s two for his last and shoots a ball the other way and knocks in two runs at the biggest moments Makes all the big plays especially the ones that really matter That s what I remember about him the bulk he was at his best in the big parts of the competition both defensively and offensively Added reliever Tyler Rogers Crawford s teammate from - The first thing that comes to mind is the Opening Day starts in a row In in the modern day s contest that s unheard of especially with the same franchise That just speaks to his consistency and the kind of person he is He s everything that everybody says great on the field great off the field great father great husband You can t say enough good things about the guy