Carl Crawford's Presence in a Red Sox Uniform Doesn't Bother Me...Should It?

With the Tampa Bay Rays in the midst of playing a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, it will be the first opportunity for many Rays fans to see former LF Carl Crawford in a different uniform.

With the horrific starts to the season by both clubs, this series has now been elevated to an even bigger platform for fans of the two teams and the national baseball audience as a whole.

Other than seeing a few innings of a televised Red Sox spring training game, I too have not watched Crawford play yet for his new ball club. This admittedly has been intentional, for even though it has been some months since Crawford's signing with the hated Red Sox, I still have not been able to come to terms with his presence on our division rival's squad.

Call it denial. Or perhaps selective disregard.

I have followed him via the box score and am well aware of his less than impressive start to the 2011 campaign. I just haven't been able to bring myself to actually watch him play.

I suppose this is largely due to the fact that he was unquestionably my favorite Rays player during his long tenure in the Tampa Bay area. This is undoubtedly true for a lot of Rays fans, as for even the most passive of fans, Crawford represented the first true face of the franchise.

In my case, Crawford is largely responsible for me becoming a fan of the team. Upon first seeing him play at Tropicana Field when I arrived in this area in 2004, I instantly fell in love with his talent and style of play.

After deciding to get married and leave my nomadic lifestyle behind for good, it was relatively easy for me to put aside my past baseball loyalties and throw my support behind the team.

As Crawford matured into the great player that he is and the franchise developed into perennial AL East contenders, my love of the team increased exponentially.

Then suddenly this winter...the love affair was over.

I had been jilted. Left at the proverbial baseball altar.

We as baseball fans must endure the economic realities of baseball, that ensure that few players in this age of free agency will remain with their parent ball clubs for the duration of their playing careers.

With the makeup of Major League rosters dramatically changing from season to season, fans must constantly adjust to player movement, and are often faced with the stark reality that their favorite player is no longer around to cheer for.

Or even worse, in Crawford's case, has set up camp in the yard of a hated rival.

While I reveled in Rafael Soriano's bullpen blow-up last week for the Yankees, I have taken little pleasure in Crawford's anemic offensive output to date. I'm sure that over the course of the season, as I see more and more of Crawford in a Red Sox uniform, that my fondness for him will wane some.

For now though, he still remains the hard working, low-key, super talented left-fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. That is the only way that I have ever known him.  Like an ex-girlfriend you still care about, I find rooting for his failure and demise to be painstakingly hard. And even a little bit cruel. 

I find myself in the same mindset that I have when watching players on my fantasy baseball team play against the Rays. I want the Rays to win the game, but I want to see Carl play well.

I'm not sure what this says about me as a Rays fan, but for better or worse, that's the way it is for me right now when it comes to Carl Crawford. 

I'm sure that over time, I will come to terms with his absence from the Rays and his presence on the Red Sox. For now though, no matter how hard I try...I just can't hate Carl Crawford.