But good on him for being an individual
There’s irony in Major League Baseball’s censure of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford.
On a day that was meant to celebrate Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the colour barrier, the league nit-picked Crawford for, of all things, the colourful coordination of his shoes.
Crawford, who received two pairs of Nike Jordan PEs — one white pair, one blue — from the manufacturer, decided to lighten things up by wearing one shoe of each colour for Monday’s game at Dodger Stadium.
ESPN reported that Crawford’s agent, Brian Peters, received an ultimatum from the MLB’s overlords that the outfielder never wear the footwear again. Or else.
Crawford wore the colourful cleats after he watched Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins change shoes during a game that was on TV in the clubhouse. He made the decision to be different on a whim.
“I was like, ‘OK, (Rollins) had a little fun with it, so let me have fun with it’,” Crawford said. “The league doesn’t want us to have any fun, I guess.”
Of course, Crawford isn’t the first major leaguer to pull a stunt with his footwear. At the 2010 all-star game, Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants wore uber-orange cleats. He was fined $1,000 for it.
Expect the league to lower the financial boom on Crawford, too.
Now, I can understand the league’s rules on uniformity.
However, Crawford is not damaging or altering his outfit to pay tribute to Robinson. Nor is he thumbing his nose at safety, as would be the case with a pitcher wearing a white glove.
He simply switched the colour of his shoes, presumably as a one-off to honour one of baseball’s legends.
Granted, Crawford was the only one — Rollins and New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia also got the shoes — to to think outside the box.
Something everyone remembers former Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey for doing with Jackie Robinson.
Originally seen on Slam! Sports Blog