Carl Crawford

Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981 in Houston, Texas) is currently the left fielder for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Major League Baseball team. Crawford entered the major leagues at the young age of 20 and played in 62 games with the Devil Rays in his rookie 2002 season after being called up from the minors during the regular season. In 2003, however, he played nearly every day and was a huge success, batting .281 with 54 runs batted in and more notably 55 stolen bases, which led the league. In the 2004 season, the speedy Crawford stole 59 bases, the second-highest in the majors, and hit .296 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI's. He was also selected for the 2004 All Star Game, which was played in his hometown of Houston.

As a young man in high school, Crawford was offered scholarships from two universities to play sports on their teams. UCLA offered him a basketball scholarship, and the University of Nebraska offered him a scholarship to play football. Crawford turned down both offers and decided that his heart was set on baseball.