Bowie Baysox Blog

Monday is the last day of the 2009 minor league regular season. For some players, that may mean a call-up to the major leagues. For others, it’s the beginning of an off-season spent preparing for the next step on the ladder to the majors. And for others, it’s the end of an opportunity to play affiliated baseball.

Bowie Baysox first baseman Eric Crozier has experienced all three of those scenarios during his nine-year career in professional baseball. During a recent interview with Baseball Daily Digest minor league correspondent Paul Bugala, the Baltimore Orioles farmhand attributed much of his success and perseverance to recalling the joy he felt playing baseball long before it became a job.

On September 4, 2004, Crozier made a statement in his major league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I got my first Web Gem in my very first game,” Crozier said during a recent interview in Bowie. “I came in as a defense replacement for Carlos Delgado. It was a foul ball on the first base side. I think I dove about four rows up, fully extended and made the play. After the game, I got off the plane, turned my cell phone on and I had about twenty messages from everybody who had seen it. That was awesome. Everybody sees everything you do well in the major leagues and that’s a good feeling.”

Crozier made an unlikely climb from being the 1,234th pick in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft to being traded for long-time major leaguer Josh Phelps to making it to the big leagues himself.

“I’ve been playing every summer, since I was seven,” he said. “It was just a sport that came naturally to me. I also liked basketball, but I just thought more opportunities would come in baseball.”

Opportunities came for Crozier, but he had to earn them. The day of the 2000 draft was stressful and when his phone finally rang the call came from an unexpected source.

“My father’s a big Internet person, so he was actually the one who called me,” Crozier said. “And he said, ‘Did you see it?’ And I said, ‘See what?’ As soon as he said that, the other line rang and it was Cleveland and they told me I was drafted. I was an architecture major and I was finishing that up, but baseball is something that only comes around once in a lifetime. It wasn’t a hard decision at all.”

Crozier was the MVP of the High-A Carolina League with Kinston in 2002 where he played for his current manager Brad Komminsk. In 2004, he hit 20 home runs in 84 games with Triple-A Buffalo and then was traded to the Blue Jays for Phelps.

“Being traded kind of hurt a little,” Crozier said. “Given the season I was having, I thought I would be called up instead of traded. Sometimes I look at those guys in the big leagues in Cleveland and wish I was there with them. But fortunately, I at least had an opportunity to experience the big leagues and I have a lot of good memories from my time with the Cleveland organization.”

Crozier began the 2005 season in the Blue Jays organization and then spent time with New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds Triple-A affiliates. The following years brought more change and two trips to the Atlantic League. Crozier persisted, but found that new settings brought new challenges.

“Every time you move to another organization, you meet all new people and it seems like you have to prove yourself all over again,” he said. “Some people see you for a short period time and they may not have as much patience as the organization that groomed you. When you have that kind of pressure and you’re a person who cares about the game, it can almost work against you.”

However, part of the reason why Crozier continues to get opportunities is his maturity and disposition.

“I think through these tough times you have to be an example,” he said. “Being around this game for a long time, I could very easily throw stuff or bang stuff around, but you know what does that show. In being a professional, you have to handle the highs as well as the lows. And I think that’s what stays in the minds of people as you move on into other things.”

Crozier’s opportunity with Bowie came after he ranked among the Atlantic League leaders in several categories through early June of this year. Once again, when the call came it wasn’t exactly what he expected.

“The day after I found out I was going to be the starting first baseman in the (Atlantic League) All-Star game, my manager called me into his office and told me the Orioles had picked me up,” Crozier said. “It was a rush of emotions, because everybody in that league is looking for a second chance to go back to any affiliate to prove himself once again.”

In June of this year, Crozier had a 1.041 OPS in his first 39 at-bats with the Baysox. He hasn’t matched those numbers yet, but there’s no sense of frustration when Crozier reflects on his season.

“When you get hard on yourself, it makes those lows last longer,” he said. “I was just talking to (Baysox teammate Steve) Torrealba today he said, ‘Everyday, the sun comes out for a new day. And just make it a new day.’”

Crozier hopes to spend his ninth off-season in professional baseball playing in a winter league. And he understands that returning to the major leagues depends on channeling the joy he felt playing when he was a kid as much as anything else.

“That’s a feeling everyone wishes they could have on the baseball field. I’ve heard Derek Jeter mention it. I’ve heard Albert Pujols say it too,” Crozier said. “You know, it’s a kids’ game and when you can take it to that place mentally it helps you perform a lot better.”