Willie Crawford, R.I.P.

Jon Weisman's appreciation of the troubled and now late local phenom Willie Crawford continues to bring in comments at Dodger Thoughts. Some samples of the latest:

• I also always liked watching Willie play. His name was never again mentioned by Vin Scully in the 28 years since he last played with the Dodgers, and I don't know why, but I contacted some baseball alumni group several years ago and they told me he felt bitter toward the Dodgers and was working as an evangelist in LA...

• I went to junior high school with Willie at Edison Jr. High. My wife went to elementary school with him. I remember that even as a junior high kid, he was hitting the ball farther than the gym teachers when we'd play ball during gym class. I moved and didn't go to Fremont but would hear occasionally about how Willie was doing. And I remember watching TV and seeing Willie come to bat in the world series...

• Willie Crawford was my childhood hero! I still have my 1970 & 1971 topps cards of WIllie Crawford. Even though he has passed away, I hope that I will see him again in Paradise...

I learned of Crawford's death in August from Jon's site a couple of days before an obit ran in the Times. He was usually considered a disappointment as a player, but the man played 1210 games in the bigs and racked up 921 hits. Crawford's lifetime stats.