coco crisp

Kansas City Royals — No. 8 Center fielder Born: November 1, 1979 (1979-11-01) (age 29)

Los Angeles, California Bats: Switch Throws: Right MLB debut August 15, 2002 for the Cleveland Indians Career statistics

(through 2008) Batting average .280 Home runs 56 Runs batted in 313 Stolen bases 124 Teams Cleveland Indians (2002-2005) Boston Red Sox (2006-2008) Kansas City Royals (2009-present)

Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp [1] (born November 1, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the Kansas City Royals. Crisp is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed. He previously played for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox.

Contents [hide] 1 Baseball career 1.1 Minor league career 1.2 Major league career 1.2.1 Cleveland Indians 1.2.2 Boston Red Sox 1.2.2.1 2007 season 1.2.2.2 2008 season 1.3 Kansas City Royals 2 References 3 External links //

Baseball career

Minor league career

In his minor league career, he played for the New Haven Ravens, then the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Cleveland Indians organization. There he played for the Indians' Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons. Crisp had 81 hits, one home run, and 24 RBI before being called up by the Indians.

Major league career

Cleveland Indians

Crisp was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. On August 7, 2002, while playing at Double-A New Haven, Crisp was traded to Cleveland to complete an earlier trade for pitcher Chuck Finley.

Crisp became the starting center fielder with the Indians in mid-2002, replacing the injured Matt Lawton. For the next few seasons, Crisp established a reputation as an excellent fielder and speedy baserunner. Despite his success, Crisp had to fight for his roster spot each spring. In 2005, Crisp moved to left field following the emergence of another young outfielder, Grady Sizemore. In his final two seasons with the Indians, Crisp showcased his offensive talent by batting .297 and .300 with 31 total home runs and 35 steals.

Boston Red Sox

After Johnny Damon signed with the New York Yankees, the Red Sox sought Crisp to fill Damon's vacated role both in center field and as a lead-off hitter. In January 2006, the Red Sox sent prospect third baseman Andy Marte, pitcher Guillermo Mota, catcher Kelly Shoppach, a player to be named later (Minor Leaguer Randy Newsom), and cash considerations to the Indians for Crisp and pitcher David Riske. Crisp, already a fan favorite in Cleveland, saw his national fame jump dramatically upon entering big-market Boston before playing a single game in a Red Sox uniform.

After a promising start to his Red Sox career, which included signing a 3-year contract extension worth $15.5 million, Crisp broke his left index finger attempting to steal third base and spent the next 42 games on the disabled list. After returning to the Red Sox outfield on May 28, Kevin Youkilis