Draft and minor leagues The
San Francisco Giants selected Crawford in the fourth round, with the 117th overall selection, of the
2008 MLB draft, and he signed for a $375,000
signing bonus. Crawford started his first full season as a professional with the High–A
San Jose Giants in 2009. In 25 games, he hit .371 with six home runs and 17 RBI, good enough for a
slugging percentage of .600 and 1.045
OPS. In May, Crawford was promoted to the Double-A
Connecticut Defenders, where he spent the rest of the season, batting .258/.294/.365 with four home runs in 108 games. batting .241/.337/.375 in 79 games before suffering a broken hand in early July, which sidelined Crawford for nearly two months. When he recovered, he was assigned back to San Jose for the remainder of the season. He was ranked the sixth-best prospect in the Giants' organization by
Baseball America heading into 2011. In 2011, Crawford was invited to
spring training but was set back by a broken finger suffered in the final week, and started the season in San Jose while he recovered. There he batted .322/.412/.593 in 59 at-bats. With the Triple–A
Fresno Grizzlies, Crawford batted .234/.291/.327 in 107 at-bats. In the AFL, he was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team. Crawford made his MLB debut on May 27 against the
Milwaukee Brewers. His first MLB hit came in his third at bat of the game, and was a
grand slam off the Brewers'
Shaun Marcum. He joined
Bobby Bonds and
Brian Dallimore as the only Giants whose first career MLB hit was a grand slam; he also became the sixth player in MLB history and the second player in Giants history along with Bobby Bonds to hit a grand slam in his first game. On July 31, the Giants optioned Crawford to their Triple-A affiliate, the
Fresno Grizzlies, after the Giants acquired shortstop
Orlando Cabrera. The Giants were 23–18 with Crawford as a starter, but he was hitting only .190. Crawford was recalled in September when MLB rosters expanded to 40 players.
2012 In 2012, Crawford was named the team's opening day shortstop, in which he batted 8th in the lineup. He batted .248 with four home runs, 26 doubles, and 45 RBI in 143 games. On July 20, Crawford hit his second career grand slam and drove in 5 runs as the Giants defeated the
Philadelphia Phillies 7–2. Crawford was praised for his defense during the 2012 postseason, which culminated in a 4–0 sweep of the
Detroit Tigers in the
2012 World Series. Crawford ranked third among NL shortstops in
Defensive Runs Saved at +12, and was recognized with the
Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award at shortstop.
2013 Crawford was the Giants' starting shortstop for 2013, with
Joaquín Árias as his backup. In 149 games on the year, he hit .248/.311/.363 with nine home runs and 43 RBI.
2014 In 153 games, Crawford batted .246 and set career highs with ten home runs and 69 RBIs. On April 13, Crawford hit a tenth inning, walk-off home run against
Rex Brothers of the
Colorado Rockies. In the 2014 postseason, Crawford led all Giants with 9 RBIs. In the fourth inning of the
NL Wild Card Game between the Giants and
Pittsburgh Pirates, Crawford hit a grand slam off of
Edinson Vólquez, becoming the first shortstop to hit a grand slam in
Major League Baseball postseason history. Crawford batted .304 (7-for-23) with 4 RBIs in the
2014 World Series, en route to his second championship with the Giants. In Game 7, Crawford drove in the second run for the Giants with a sacrifice fly and, along with second baseman
Joe Panik, turned a critical double-play in the third inning.
2015 On January 27, 2015, the Giants and Crawford avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $3.175 million deal. On May 16, Crawford hit his third career grand slam (fourth including the postseason) and drove in a career-high six runs against
Mike Leake of the
Cincinnati Reds. In May, Crawford led the team in RBIs, and on July 1, Crawford set a new career-high with his 11th home run of the season. On July 6, Crawford was voted by his fellow Major League players as a reserve for the
2015 MLB All-Star Game. On August 14 at
AT&T Park, in an 8–5 win over the
Washington Nationals, Crawford hit his 100th career double. On September 24 at
Petco Park, Crawford hit his twentieth home run of the season off of
Ian Kennedy, making him the fourth Giants shortstop in franchise history to reach the milestone, after
Rich Aurilia,
Alvin Dark, and
Travis Jackson. Crawford set career highs in several offensive categories, batting .256 with 21 home runs, 84 RBIs, 33 doubles, and 130 hits. Crawford was the first Giants' shortstop to lead the team in home runs since
Bill Dahlen in 1905. He won his first
Rawlings Gold Glove Award and
Silver Slugger Award, the first Giant to win both awards in the same year since
Barry Bonds in 1997. The deal covered Crawford's final two years of salary arbitration and first four years of free agency. The contract includes a no-trade clause, meaning that Crawford has to give consent if he were to be traded. April 8, 2016, Crawford hit a tenth inning, walk-off home run off
Joe Blanton of the
Los Angeles Dodgers in a game in which the Giants had been no-hit through 7 innings and recorded only two hits. On August 8 at
Marlins Park, in an 8–7 win over the
Miami Marlins that went into extra-innings, Crawford hit a career-high in base hits and singles with seven and five respectively. His seven hits tied the NL record for
most total hits in a single game, and was the first time this feat had been done since
Rennie Stennett in 1975. The seven hits were also a Giants all-time franchise record. Two days later, Crawford met with Stennett at Marlins Park. For the 2016 season, Crawford increased his batting average to a career-best .275 in 155 games played. Along with teammate
Javier López, Crawford won the
Willie Mac Award, which honors the Giants' most inspirational player. He was awarded his second consecutive Gold Glove Award after the season.
2017 On April 29, 2017, Crawford was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a right groin strain. In 2017, he batted .253/.305/.403 with 14 home runs and 77 RBI, and after the season he was awarded his third consecutive Gold Glove Award. He was the first shortstop to win three straight since
Jimmy Rollins (2007–09), and the first Giant since
J. T. Snow who won four in a row (1997–2000).
2018 On June 27, 2018, Crawford hit a
walk-off home run against the Colorado Rockies to win the game 1–0 for the Giants. Crawford became the first Giants player since
Steve Decker in April 1991 to hit a walk-off solo homer to win a 1–0 game. Batting .300 with ten home runs and 39 RBIs, Crawford was named the starting shortstop for the
2018 MLB All-Star Game. Crawford hit .193 in the second half, battling injuries throughout the second half. A left-handed hitter, Crawford had a higher batting average against left-hand pitching than right-hand pitching at .274. His average against right-hand pitching was .243. For the season, he hit a .254/.325/.394
batting line. He had the slowest baserunning sprint speed of all major league shortstops, at 25.9 feet/second. In 2018, Crawford was the Giants team winner of the
Heart & Hustle Award. Crawford lost out on his fourth straight gold glove to Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop
Nick Ahmed.
2019 Against the Rockies on July 15, 2019, he had five hits in six at bats including two home runs and a career-high eight runs batted in during the Giants' 19-2 victory. The eight RBIs tied the San Francisco team record held by
Willie Mays and
Orlando Cepeda. Crawford became the first shortstop in history to record five hits and eight RBIs in one game, and the first Giant to have at least two home runs and eight RBIs in a game since Willie Mays did it in 1961. In 2019, he batted .228/.304/.350 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs.
2020 In 2020 he batted .256/.326/.465 (the highest slugging percentage of his career) with eight home runs and 23 RBIs.
2021 On June 8, 2021, Crawford started in what was his 1,326th game playing shortstop for the Giants, passing
Travis Jackson for the most games played at the position in franchise history. With four Gold Glove Awards he became tied with former first baseman
J.T. Snow for third-most in Giants history. He placed fourth in National League MVP voting.
2022 In 2022 with the Giants he batted .231/.308/.344 in 407 at bats, with nine home runs and 52 RBIs, as on defense he led the NL in range factor per game at shortstop (3.88). He made his first major-league appearance as a
pitcher with a scoreless ninth inning of relief in a 13–3 victory over the
Chicago Cubs on June 11. In 2021, Crawford had mentioned his desire to eventually pitch in a big league game, although at the time manager
Gabe Kapler declined to allow it, citing Crawford’s extreme value at shortstop. During the appearance, Crawford’s fastball reached 89.7 mph, a speed he matched in a bullpen session earlier in the season. On July 7, he hit a two-run home run off
Austin Gomber of the
Colorado Rockies, moving him into 6th place on the Giants’ San Francisco-era RBI leaderboard. Crawford’s 2023 season included multiple trips to the 10-day injured list. His season finished with him setting career lows in batting average and on-base percentage, with a slash line of 0.194/0.273/0.314. Nearing the end of the season, speculation began to grow about Crawford’s future, not just within the organization but with regards to a potential retirement as well. In the latter half of a season in which he set offensive career lows, Crawford remained mute about his future within the sport. On October 1, 2023, Crawford played in what many speculated could be his final game for the Giants, a 5-2 loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to the game, Crawford’s four children threw the ceremonial first pitches. Throughout the game, Crawford received standing ovations from fans, and was removed from the game by manager Kai Correa in the 9th inning, allowing him to walk off the field to one final standing ovation from the Giants fans. He went 0–4 that game. After the season drew to a close, Crawford expressed his desire to remain with the Giants in any capacity, including significantly reduced playing time. In response to the Cardinals offering Crawford a 1-year $2 million dollar contract, his agent Joel Wolfe reached out to the Giants to explore the possibility of Crawford returning to the team. However, President of Baseball Operations
Farhan Zaidi declined to guarantee him a roster spot, citing the difficulty in maintaining a club legend as a backup, instead inviting him to training camp as a non-roster invitee. Crawford referred to this as the “nail in the coffin” that led him to pursue other opportunities in the league. Crawford finished his Giants career with the 7th most games played, 16th most hits, 8th most doubles, 17th most home runs and 12th most RBI in team history.
St. Louis Cardinals (2024) On February 27, 2024, Crawford signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the
St. Louis Cardinals. In 28 games for St. Louis, he slashed .169/.263/.282 with one home run and four RBI. Crawford was released by the Cardinals on August 20. On November 27, 2024, Crawford announced his retirement from professional baseball. ==International career==