The
Crox Sox took over a struggling franchise in 2015 and finished in fifth place.
In 2016, he took the next step and finished in third place — and as several
third-place have done in the past, he powered through the bracket with a pair
of upsets over higher seeds to go to the World Series.
We
all know how that ended with a final-hour loss late Sunday night to the best
on-paper team the JLB has ever seen.
That’s
right, Crox took the best down to the wire.
So,
he should be good for 2017 with that World Series team, right?
Guess
again. From that World Series team, he loses — via trade and one retirement — 9
of his 15 HRs and 23 of his 43 RBIs in the World Series. He also traded away the pitcher who posted
an 0.66 ERA in 13.2 innings (Jon Lester) and another pair who had quality
starts — Sean Manaea and Drew Smyly.
That
doesn’t stop the Crox from thinking repeat in the American League, though.
He
brought back former Crox Taijuan Walker and he expects him to step in for the
pitchers he lost.
“He
doesn’t need to be great, just very good,” Crox said. “Now that his ankle is
healed, he takes the next step. … Pun intended.”
Ah,
puns. Remember when we used puns all the time for Choo and his Cubans? Well,
now Crox has a strong contingent of Cubans with Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu and
Yasmany Tomas on offense.
All
three played key roles last season and especially in the World Series where
Abreu homered and drove in two and Puig homered in and drove in four.
“Abreu
is the best of the three, but I’m most excited for Tomas after the tear he went
on at the end of last season,” Crox said.
Tomas
batted .294 in the second half — opposed to his .253 first-half average —
including a .318 average in September. He also had 14 homers and 39 RBIs in the
final two months.
It’s
no wonder why Crox is excited. So excited he kept all his responses rather
subdued.
Yes, his answers were like a Subway hoagie. Owner of Arby's called and asked, "Where's the meat?!"
Quiet confidence, like a Crox drifting just above the water's surface for its next prey.
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