In what could be the most contentious debate seen in these parts since “cake vs. pie,” today we’re asking the tough question: should the Giants retire Brandon Crawford’s jersey?
Good morning, baseball fans!
The San Francisco Giants used to have a pretty well-established tradition of only retiring the jersey numbers of players who have made it into the Hall of Fame. That is until the Hall of Fame decided to stick their fingers in their ears and ignore the accomplishments of Barry Bonds. Then the Giants gave up on that tradition and have since retired both his number and Will Clark’s.
Unfortunately for the organization (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they will have some really difficult decisions to make in the upcoming years. The stars of the championship era have mostly all retired now, and they are going to have to figure out who will be honored with a jersey retirement, and who will have to be satisfied with the team’s Wall of Fame.
Of those players, I personally think the only two who are hands-down, 100% deserving of having their numbers completely retired are Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner.
But then there are the grey areas. People like Tim Lincecum, who is still the last player to wear his number. People still get affronted at the possibility, even ten years since his last game as a Giant.
I personally feel like Brandon Crawford is another player in that grey area where it could go either way. Which is hard, because I feel like the case should also then be made for Brandon Belt in that regard, but probably won’t be.
Crawford was always the hometown hero, born and raised a Giants fan who got to grow up and play for his (and our) favorite team. That has always given him an edge in the fans’ and the organization’s favor. Not undeservedly so, of course. He has some pretty impressive career stats for the team that would absolutely make a case for him without that, but I feel like that factor has always been in play with him.
What do you think?
Should the Giants retire Brandon Crawford’s jersey?