Crawford proud to be able to give back to Bay Area

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Crawford has spent the last 13 years living out his dream of playing shortstop for the Giants. Through his generosity off the field, the 36-year-old veteran is helping to support other local kids’ baseball journeys as well.

On May 16, Crawford went to Vallejo to attend a ceremony celebrating the renovation of the Wilson Park Baseball Field. Crawford teamed up with the Giants Community Fund, the Good Tidings Foundation and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District to restore the field, which is now known as the Brandon Crawford Junior Giants Field.

Crawford’s commitment to giving back to his native Bay Area and beyond earned him his third consecutive nomination for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given annually to the “Major League player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

The prestigious award is named in honor of the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star from Puerto Rico who died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972, while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. All 30 clubs nominate one player for the prize, which will be presented at the 2023 World Series.

“It’s definitely an honor to be nominated, especially multiple times,” Crawford said. “I think it’s one of the more special awards just because it includes your character off the field and not just on the baseball field. I’m fortunate to be in a position to be able to give back, so I try to do that as much as I can.”

Crawford has helped revamp two local fields in the last three years, as he also supported the renovation of Gilman Field, located in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco -- just blocks from Candlestick Park, where he fell in love with baseball.

“Anytime I’m able to give back specifically to the Bay Area, it’s really cool,” Crawford said.

Crawford and his wife, Jalynne, back several other charitable causes, though they’ve been particularly involved in funding research to find a cure for ALS -- also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease -- in recent years. Since 2019, they’ve hosted the annual Crawford Family Golf Tournament, which has helped raise over $800,000 to benefit ALS organizations. Crawford’s relationship to former A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty, a fellow Pleasanton native who lost his mother, Gretchen, to ALS, helped inspire him to join the mission to find a cure for the disease.

In recognition for those efforts, Crawford also received the 2023 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, which is sponsored by the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity. Phi Delta Theta presents the award annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the giving character of Gehrig, who was a member of the Fraternity’s Columbia University chapter.

Crawford is currently on the injured list with a right hamstring strain, but he is expected to return for Sunday’s regular-season finale at Oracle Park, which could be his final game with the Giants.

Crawford, who is unsigned beyond this season, will go down as the greatest shortstop in franchise history, though he hopes his work in the community will be a part of his legacy as much as his two World Series rings, three All-Star nods and four Gold Glove Awards.

“I’m definitely proud of the stuff that we’ve done off the field,” Crawford said. “I would definitely like that to be part of what people remember me for.”