San Francisco Giants Star Gets Frank About Facing Former Team

A San Francisco Giants legend faced off against his former team, while also playing a new position.

Jun 5, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) reacts after hitting a double during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

When the lineups were released for the San Francisco Giants game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, the St. Louis lineup included one important player: Brandon Crawford. After 13 years in San Francisco, Thursday marked the first time he played against the Giants.

Despite the emotions that come with playing against a team that Crawford was with for so long, he was also playing a new position for the first time in his MLB career. After over 1,600 games at shortstop, the veteran was slated to start at third base for the first time in his career. In a discussion with NBC Sports Bay Area, Crawford talked about his feelings on everything.

When asked which he was most nervous for, third base or facing the Giants, the 37-year-old said, laughing "Third base, probably. I was more excited about playing against the Giants, third base makes me a little nervous, just cause I've never done it before."

He also joked, "I imagine running out there will probably have similar feelings to when I pitched last year. Just cause I had never done it, you know, on that type of stage before."

Crawford was slated to play third for the Giants in 2023 when it appeared that the team was going to sign Carlos Correa in free agency. When that ultimately fell through, Crawford played his 13th and final season with the Giants as the teams main starting shortstop.

In his Giants career, the infielder made three All-Star teams, won four Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and, of course, two World Series. In franchise history, Crawford ranks 16th in hits (1,392), 8th in doubles (290), 17th in home runs (146) and 25th in bWAR (29.6).

The new third baseman has struggled in his time with St. Louis so far. In 15 games, he is slashing .190/.292/.310 with a 73 OPS+.

It did not seem that he wanted to leave San Francisco, however. In an interview with The Athletic in the offseason, he told Andrew Baggarly, "The bottom line is I was not wanted back by the one person whose opinion matters. So I went with a team that gave me a major league contract," reffering to St. Louis.

A year after letting another long time cornerstone in Brandon Belt walk, Crawford was the next to go. The front office wanted prospect Marco Luciano to be the future at the position, and that meant letting Crawford go.

However, in his first time playing the team, he was able to get excited and reminisce about a franchise he helped to win two World Series.