César Crespo

Dave Roberts stole that base in the ALCS. Doug Mientkiewicz caught the last out of the World Series. Trot Nixon was a perennial Red Sox fan favorite whose dirty uniform symbolized an unrestrained style of play. Nomar Garciaparra’s sweet swing won consecutive batting titles (1999, 2000) and made the Fenway faithful swoon. Super-utility César Crespo, however, played in more games in 2004 than the better-known quartet. His appearances came in the first half of the season, and by the time he last wore the uniform, the franchise was two games out of the sole wild-card berth and once again trailed the New York Yankees in the AL East standings. As such, he was more of an extra than a minor character, not to be confused with the protagonists, and often forgotten without the aid of game recaps and box scores.

César Antonio Crespo Claudio was born on May 23, 1979, in Río Piedras, a neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, best known for the flagship campus of the University of Puerto Rico. He was raised in Caguas, a city on the outskirts of the San Juan metropolitan area. The city, named after the Taíno chieftain Caguax, who fought the Spanish conquistadores, has a rich baseball tradition. Its Criollos franchise has been a mainstay of the Puerto Rico Winter League, winning 20 titles and 5 Caribbean Series crowns. Native sons José “Cheo” Cruz, Victor Pellot (a/k/a Vic Power), and Juan “Tetelo” Vargas played alongside imports like Henry Aaron, Cal Ripken Jr., and Don Mattingly.

César’s father, Felipe Crespo Sr., was a civil engineer and his mother, Carmen Claudio, was an occupational therapist, providing a comfortable middle-class upbringing for César and his three full siblings. In his youth, César played every position, but upon turning 15 he focused on shortstop and modeled his game after that of Roberto Alomar, though Mattingly and Rickey Henderson were his favorite players.

César attended the Catholic Notre Dame High School and was selected in the third round of the 1997 amateur draft, less than two weeks after his 18th birthday. Of the 30 prospects chosen in that round, nine made the major leagues. Crespo was picked ahead of Chone Figgins (fourth round), Eric Byrnes (fourth round), and Michael Young (fifth round). Almost seven years earlier, his brother Felipe Crespo had been chosen in the same round by the Blue Jays; the elder brother reached the big leagues with Toronto in 1996.

By now 5-feet-11 and 170 pounds, Crespo was assigned to the Capital City Bombers (Columbia, South Carolina) of the Class-A South Atlantic League. In 1998 the squad’s 90-51 record topped the league and Crespo appeared in 116 games, most of them at second. However, shortly after the season ended, he and Brandon Villafuerte were traded to the Florida Marlins for Rob Stratton on September 12, 1998. Crespo’s .252 batting average, 27 errors, and .948 fielding percentage did not concern the Marlins, who promoted him to the Brevard County Manatees of the Advanced Class-A Florida State League for 1999. Fortunes reversed as the club finished under .500 but Crespo hit .286 (.753 OPS), his zenith as a professional.

Crespo headed north to the Double-A Eastern League with the Portland (Maine) Sea Dogs in 2000. Under eventual big-league manager Rick Renteria, Crespo played all three outfield positions and the middle infield. He reached career highs in games, at-bats, plate appearances, runs, triples, RBIs, runs scored, walks, and strikeouts. During his time with the Marlins’ affiliates, he met Euclides “Euky” Rojas, who would also join the Red Sox organization and coach in the Puerto Rico Winter League.

With a breakthrough campaign under his belt, the future looked bright for Crespo, but the trade winds blew in his direction. On March 28, 2001, he and Mark Kotsay went to San Diego in exchange for Matt Clement, Eric Owens, and Omar Ortiz. Crespo was assigned to the organization’s top farm club; while the city’s name was the same, this Portland was located thousands of miles away in the Pacific Coast League. The trade puzzled some, as “a week before the trade, Marlins manager John Boles likened the 21-year-old switch hitter to a young Tim Raines.”1 Baseball America had ranked Crespo as the 19th best prospect in the Florida organization.2 Crespo was able to play with Henderson, one of his childhood idols, in both Triple A and the major leagues: he cherished the opportunity and said Henderson “was a great mentor and always treated me with respect.”3

Crespo was called up and made his major-league debut on May 29, 2001. As the seventh hitter, he walked twice in four plate appearances against the Houston Astros. Moved to the leadoff spot the next day, he doubled off Wade Miller for his first major-league hit and enjoyed consistent playing time through the end of June before returning to the minors in July. For the season, he appeared in 133 combined games, and contributed a .209 average with the parent club, including a five-game hitting streak in mid-June.

Crespo’s first home run was memorable. On June 7, 2001, the Crespos became the ninth pair of brothers to homer in the same game while playing for different teams. (As of the conclusion of the 2022 season, only Corey and Kyle Seager have repeated the feat.4) Felipe had two blasts, driving three runs, but César’s shot in the seventh frame was the last run the Padres scored in their 10-8 victory.

Two days later, Crespo scored the go-ahead run on Kotsay’s groundout against Seattle, snapping the Mariners’ 15-game winning streak. At the end the month, though, he was back in Triple A, where he would “at [San Diego manager Bruce] Bochy’s request … play shortstop” to further provide value off the bench.5 After returning to the majors in September, he enjoyed his best game, clubbing two home runs, a double, and a single in the Padres’ 15-11 loss to the Colorado Rockies on September 24.

Baseball Prospectus wrote that “he’s never going to be a great hitter, but with his eye and speed he could have an above-average peak at second base or be a great utility player. He’d benefit from playing every day at Portland in 2022.”6 The Padres brass must have paid attention, as Crespo opened the season in Triple A.

The Padres regressed in 2002 and limped to a 66-96 record in the wake of icon Tony Gwynn’s retirement. Fellow Puerto Rican Ramón Vázquez, acquired from the Mariners on December 11, played the lion’s share of games at second base, so Crespo settled into a super-utility role. (Vázquez would join the Red Sox in 2018 as the team’s bench coach.) Aside from a pair of games in April and a nine-contest stint in May, Crespo played most of the season with Portland. He featured as a defensive replacement during a late-season call-up. He started only two out of his 25 games for the year, though he defended all three outfield positions, third base, second base, and shortstop.

The Padres traded Crespo to the Red Sox on December 16, 2002, for fellow middle infielder Luis Cruz. He had a solid 2003 campaign with Triple-A Pawtucket, hitting .267 in 132 games, and alternated between right field and second base. Red Sox infielders Todd Walker and Garciaparra stayed healthy most of the year, and Crespo was not called up during the season.

Baseball Prospectus noted Crespo’s potential value: “Crespo can play several positions, has above-average power for a middle infielder and a good eye at the plate. His youth and versatility will likely bring him back to the big leagues, probably in 2004. In the era of 12-man pitching staffs, versatility is everything.”7 The prediction came true, thanks to Crespo’s torrid performance in the Grapefruit League. His two hits in a March 18 game against Cleveland brought his average to .462 (12-for-26).8

The Red Sox planned to bring glove man Pokey Reese as a backup infielder, but Crespo’s hot bat gave the team pause. However, Garciaparra’s nagging injuries landed the starting shortstop on the disabled list to begin the season, and freed another slot that Crespo earned thanks to his defensive flexibility.

Throughout April and May, Crespo appeared as a pinch-runner, pinch-hitter, defensive replacement, and occasional spot starter, spelling Reese, second baseman Mark Bellhorn, and the Red Sox outfielders. The dynamic was slated to change when Garciaparra returned from the DL, but Bill Mueller was sidelined through June, allowing Crespo to remain with the team. However, once the group was healthy, Crespo was the odd man out and he was designated for assignment on July 2.

Crespo fondly recalled his first taste of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry. He appeared in all three games of an early season Red Sox series sweep, saying, “[T]he competition, after coming from San Diego, was intense. … [T]he goal was to win a championship.” Among his teammates, he remembered “Manny Ramírez, Pedro Martínez, and David Ortiz making my life a whole lot easier in the big leagues. … [M]y hat’s off to them. Since I got to the organization in 2003, they treated me with a lot of respect. Manny, David, and I would take early batting practice, and during the game I would talk to Pedro and he would teach me about the game itself.”9 Three days later, in a harbinger of things to come, Garciaparra returned to the lineup but was replaced by Crespo after a sixth-inning rain delay.

Crespo’s last hit with the team, a single, came on June 6 in Kansas City against Chris George. The game, a 4-1 Boston victory, was marred by a freak play during his third plate appearance. With the bases loaded and one man out, Crespo weakly tapped a pitch toward first base. Pitcher Jason Grimsley ran to cover the bag, expecting a lob from first sacker Ken Harvey, but Harvey sought to throw Kevin Millar out at home. Grimsley was unable to duck, and the ball struck him in the face. Both Royals left the game after the harrowing collision.10

Crespo’s final game with the Red Sox was a heartbreaker. Against the Yankees on July 1,  Ramírez’s solo homer off Tanyon Sturze broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the 13th inning, but the Yankees rallied against Curt Leskanic to win, 5-4.11 Crespo entered the contest in the 11th as a pinch-runner for third baseman Kevin Youkilis. Crespo took second on a sacrifice and third on Johnny Damon’s single but was left stranded after consecutive popouts by Bellhorn and Nixon. Crespo then took the field as the second baseman and Bellhorn moved to third. Crespo’s last major-league plate appearance, in the 13th inning, doused a Boston rally as he grounded into a double play that also eliminated Dave McCarty from the basepaths. McCarty himself was a candidate for demotion.12

Crespo was stoic in the face of his demotion. After the Red Sox were swept by the Yankees in a crucial July series, he said, “[N]ot every day is a good day. They gave me an opportunity. I couldn’t ask for more.”13 Although the Red Sox were in the thick of a pennant race, Crespo noted, “Offensively, I didn’t do the job, so I can’t ask for more. They gave me the opportunity, but I couldn’t get my timing and I have to try to find my timing again, whether it’s here in the organization or somewhere else.”14 Though barely 25, he was aware of the quagmire the minor leagues could offer: “I have to see what the organization is going to offer me if I go to Triple-A. I would love to stay in the infield, but last year I got stuck in right field the whole season. I didn’t think that was productive for me.”15 Paradoxically, his defensive fluidity militated against a big-league return. An injury to Reese in late July opened a spot, but the team opted to sign veteran Ricky Gutiérrez instead.

Crespo performed admirably with Triple-A Pawtucket, hitting .272 in 55 games. A much-desired return to the majors did not materialize and Crespo watched his former teammates eradicate the Curse of Bambino from a distance. The franchise granted him free agency on October 4.

With the Red Sox, Crespo totaled 79 plate appearances in 52 games, 16 of them in the starting lineup. Among his 13 hits, three were for extra bases (two doubles, one triple) for a .165/.165/.215 slash line. He collected a pair of hits in a quartet of games (April 10, April 29, May 14, May 15). Even before the thrilling season became mythical, some reporters recalled that “Boston’s road to the 2004 playoffs was not all walk-off home runs. … Remember César Crespo? He spent the entire first half of the season with the Red Sox … all over the place, too. He started games at shortstop, second base, center field and right field. Still, the Sox were 10-6 in games that Crespo started. They could have done worse for a utility guy.”16

Crespo next suited up for the Gigantes of Carolina of the Puerto Rico Winter League, hoping to catch the eye of another major-league franchise. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him on December 22, but he did not make the major-league roster. He spent 2005 with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians and appeared in 111 games, contributing .265/.349/.409. He was not called up and was released on October 15.

The Atlanta Braves inked Crespo to a one-year deal on January 10, 2006, and assigned him to Triple-A Richmond. His offensive output regressed to .239/.326/.319 and Atlanta granted him free agency on October 15. Less than a month later, Baltimore offered Crespo a one-year deal and assigned him to Norfolk, his third International League team in as many years.

Before spring training, Crespo played for the Puerto Rican team in the 2007 Caribbean Series, going 3-for-10. He managed a .308 average in 15 plate appearances with Baltimore during spring training but was nevertheless sent to Triple A. His numbers with the 2007 Norfolk Tides (.244/.318/.318) did not merit a big-league call-up and the Orioles released him on October 29.

Crespo, however, was not done playing baseball. In 2008 he suited up for the Mulos (Mules) of Juncos in Puerto Rico’s Amateur Baseball League, known as the Liga de Béisbol Doble-A de Puerto Rico. The league, founded in 1940, features blue-collar workers across the island playing on weekends, typically with their hometown teams. Crespo played six seasons with Juncos and was named the team’s captain. He next signed with the Toritos (Bull Calves) of Cayey and retired after a subpar 2015 campaign. He averaged .345 across 136 contests from 2008 to 2015.

Though his .192 batting average (48 OPS+) in the major leagues was lower than his brother Felipe’s .245 (85+) and César played in only half as many games as Felipe, he can nevertheless boast of playing for a team that won the ultimate baseball prize. He took part in the 10th-anniversary celebration of the championship of “the best team I ever played on.”17

After hanging up his professional spikes, Crespo studied civil engineering at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Upon graduation, he joined one of his brothers and his father in the family business, C.A.C. Crespo Builders.18 As of 2023, he and his wife lived in Caguas with their two young children.

Acknowledgments

Alexis Figueroa for connecting the author with César Crespo.

Notes

Unless otherwise noted, quotes stem from the author’s interview with César Crespo on December 12, 2022.

1 Ken Rosenthal, “Inside Dish,” The Sporting News, April 9, 2001: 54.

2 “Cesar Crespo Profile,” The Baseball Cube, https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/897/prospects/.

3 Author’s telephone interview with César Crespo, December 12, 2022.

4 “Brothers Homering in the Same Game,” Retrosheet, https://retrosheet.org/Research/VincentD/Brothers%20HR%20in%20Same%20Game.pdf.

5 “San Diego Padres,” The Sporting News, July 30, 2001: 35.

6 Baseball Prospectus 2002, https://www.baseballprospectus.com/player/607/cesar-crespo/.

7 Baseball Prospectus 2004, https://www.baseballprospectus.com/player/607/cesar-crespo/.

8 David Borges, “Merloni Delivers for Cleveland,” Middletown (Connecticut) Press, March 19, 2004. https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Merloni-delivers-for-Cleveland-11912453.php.

9 Crespo interview.

10 Box score, Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals, June 6, 2004, https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA200406060.shtml. The collision can be seen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyRW1idNr6k.

11 Box score, Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees, July 1, 2004, https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200407010.shtml.

12 Christina Karl, “Transaction Analysis: July 1-5,” Baseball Prospectus, July 8, 2004. https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/3049/transaction-analysis-july-1-5/#BOS. The writer’s analysis: “[I]t’s interesting to see that the Sox chose to keep a backup right-handed bat like Dave McCarty over a spare speedy utilityman like Crespo. … Crespo struggled pretty badly in a reserve role, so it isn’t like he did much to help himself.”

13 Phil O’ Neill, “Sox Can Finally Field Full Lineup – Mueller Returns from Surgery,” Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette, July 3, 2004: B4.

14 Bob Hohler, “Crespo Gets Short End of the Stick,” Boston Globe, July 3, 2004: G5.

15 “Crespo Gets Short End of the Stick.”

16 Bill Ballou, “Sadly, Many Red Sox Bit Players Kept Up with Jones,” Worcester Telegram & Gazette, October 3, 2004: D8.

17 “Crespo Gets Short End of the Stick.”

18 César Crespo Facebook Profile, https://www.facebook.com/cesar.c.claudio/about_work_and_education.