Coco Crisp, Center Field


Date of Birth: 11/1/1979
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
College: Los Angeles Pierce College

Coco Crisp, center fielder, was first drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999. After almost four years in the Cardinals' minor league system, they traded him to the Indians in August, 2002. He then played in 32 games with the Indians. The following season, he split his time between the Indians (99 games) and the minor leagues.

Crisp batted .297 with 146 hits, 24 doubles, 15 home runs, a career high 71 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases in 139 games in 2004. The following season was probably his best one. In 2005, he had career highs in hits (178), doubles (42), and batting average (.300). That year, he was the Indians' left fielder.

Although Crisp had a strong 2005 season, the Indians traded him to the Boston Red Sox in January, 2006. He broke a finger in 2006 and missed a good part of the season while on the DL, playing in just 105 games with the Red Sox. He became a center fielder in 2006.

Crisp had a good season with the Red Sox in 2008, batting .283 in 118 games, but they traded him after the season ended to the Kansas City Royals. In 2009, Crisp had a shoulder injury and surgery that limited his playing time that year to just 49 games.

After the 2009 season ended, Crisp signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Oakland Athletics. In 2010, he was again sidelined by an injury, this time a fractured finger that limited his playing time to 75 games.

Crisp came back healthy and strong in 2011, leading the American League in stolen bases that season. He batted .264 with 140 hits, 27 doubles, and a career high 49 stolen bases in 136 games. In January, 2012, he signed a new two-year, $14 million contract with the Athletics. In 2013, he batted .261 with 134 hits, 22 doubles, a career high 22 home runs, 66 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases in 131 games. After the season ended, the Athletics picked up his 2014 option and gave him an additional two-year contract extension. He finished the 2014 season with 114 hits, 21 doubles, 47 RBIs, 19 stolen bases, and a .246 batting average.

Crisp missed most of the 2015 season with injuries, playing in just 44 games with the Athletics. During that time, he had 22 hits and a .175 batting average.

Crisp returned to the Indians in a trade on August 31, 2016. He finished the 2016 season with 103 hits, 27 doubles, 13 home runs, 55 RBIs, and a .231 batting average in 102 games with the Athletics and 20 games with the Indians. Defensively, he played 71 games in left field and 36 games in center field. In the postseason, he batted .269 with 7 hits, including 2 doubles and 2 home runs, and 4 RBIs in 26 at-bats in 12 games.

Crisp became a free agent on November 3, 2016. He hasn't played in the major leagues since 2016.

Career batting statistics for Crisp through 2018 include:

  • 1,586 games played
  • 1,572 hits
  • 308 doubles
  • 130 home runs
  • 639 RBIs
  • 309 stolen bases
  • 865 strikeouts to 561 walks
  • .265 batting average

Career fielding statistics for Crisp as a center fielder through 2018 include:

  • 1,158 games played
  • 2,761 putouts
  • 21 errors
  • .993 fielding percentage

Personal Life

Crisp is married and he and his wife have three sons and a daughter.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Coco Crisp
ESPN - Coco Crisp