Tampa Bay Rays veteran Carl Crawford, who currently ranks second in All-Star balloting among American League outfielders, has been named Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week for the period ending June 20th.
In six games last week, Crawford hit .429 (9-21) with a double, a home run, three RBI and three stolen bases, in addition to tying for the Major League lead with nine runs scored and pacing the Majors with two triples. The Houston native also posted an .810 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage behind his seven free passes, which tied for third in the Majors last week. In an Interleague matchup against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on June 15th, the three-time A.L. All-Star scored three times, laced an RBI triple and stole a base en route to a 10-4 victory. On June 19th, Carl collected four hits for the fifth time this season, marking the 25th time that he has hit safely four-or-more times in a game in his career. The 28-year-old collected a triple in that contest, which was his A.L.-leading sixth of the season and the 98th of his career, moving past Johnny Damon (97) as the leader among active players. The left-handed hitter is batting .307 on the season with 16 doubles, seven home runs, 56 runs scored and 24 stolen bases, which rank third in the A.L. This marks Carl's third career weekly award (previous: August 6, 2007).