Ex-51 Crosby endures whirlwind week

Friday, Aug. 8, 2003 | 9:09 a.m.

The Crosby Chronicles

Former 51s outfielder Bubba Crosby's past three weeks:

July 20 -- flies to Edmonton with 51s.

July 23 -- receives call-up to Dodgers, flies to L.A.

July 24 -- flies to Phoenix with Dodgers.

July 27 -- flies to Philadelphia with Dodgers.

July 31, 3:51 p.m. (EST) -- traded to the Yankees.

July 31, 10 p.m. (EST) -- flies to Las Vegas.

Aug. 1, 1 a.m. (PST) -- leaves Las Vegas in his gray BMW.

Saturday, 1:30 a.m. (CST) -- arrives in Houston.

Saturday, 8 a.m. (CST) -- flies to Cincinnati.

Saturday, noon (EST) -- flies to Toledo.

Saturday, 7 p.m. (EST) -- in the visitors' dugout at Fifth Third Field for Clippers' game vs. Mud Hens.

By the time he got to Phoenix, joining I-10, Bubba Crosby's roller-coaster emotions were just beginning to rise and fall.

Yeah, the Yankees! Ugh, the Yankees ...

He continued east in his gray BMW sedan on an exact route, through El Paso and then San Antonio, popping into his hometown of Houston just long enough to unpack his rig, sleep for five hours and then report to his new life.

Although Crosby knew he'd be catching a flight to Cincinnati, then one to Toledo, he was uncertain about his career path.

He pondered countless scenarios as he spent nearly every minute of last Friday as he traversed 1,478 miles of highway.

"It went from one extreme to the other," Crosby said earlier this week after taking batting practice in Indianapolis. "Like, 'Goodness, I'm a Yankee now. A New York Yankee!'

"From the No. 1 team on the West Coast, as far as history and all they've done, to the No. 1 team on the East Coast. The second-highest market to the highest."

To an organization whose outfield and first base positions -- Crosby's spots -- are loaded. To a club, Crosby admitted, that gets whatever it wants whenever it needs it, rarely relying on its farm system.

When the Dodgers traded him to the Yankees in a deal for Robin Ventura just before the trading deadline last Thursday, Crosby had to beg a secretary in New York for a plane ticket to Las Vegas.

The Bombers initially instructed him to catch a flight from Philadelphia to Toledo, where the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, were to begin a series Friday.

However, Crosby only had four days' worth of clothes with him. When the Dodgers sent for him on July 23, he was with the 51s -- and only four days' worth of clothes -- in Edmonton.

He reported to Dodger Stadium, then went to Phoenix with the team the next day. Then, to Philly. Finally, the Yankees relented, allowing Crosby to fly back here, gather his belongings and attempt to gather his thoughts en route to Houston.

"The biggest thing was realizing that I'm not a part of the Dodgers organization," said Crosby, who turns 27 on Monday. "Some guys have been with four different clubs in four years."

Since the Dodgers drafted him in the first round of the 1998 draft, he habitually sought the team's standing in the NL West whenever he flipped open a newspaper.

Crosby hit .355 for the 51s this season, his first full run in Triple-A ball. He led the Pacific Coast League in batting average most of the year.

His first call-up to the parent team, in late May, resulted in only one start in six appearances. In his second and last summons, he pinch-hit three times. In total, he slapped a single in his first at-bat as a Dodger, then went 0-for-11.

"It was always, 'Dodgers ... Dodgers,' " Crosby said. "Now, it means nothing. It's, 'Yankees.' I'll no longer get that check with the Dodgers logo on the left-hand side."

Crosby and Jason Romano, like the rest of the Dodgers, were in the visitors' clubhouse in Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia last Thursday afternoon, watching the scrawl on the bottom of a few television sets.

"I was all dressed up, ready to walk out to (batting practice),"Crosby said. "We were sitting around a table, wondering what crazy moves we'd see flash on the TV screen."

The deadline was 4 p.m. (EST). Romano, whom Colorado acquired from Texas one minute before last year's deadline, kidded Crosby, telling him he'd be dealt to Pittsburgh any second. You're going to Montreal, Crosby shot back.

At 3:51, Dodgers third-base coach Glenn Hoffman tapped Crosby on his right shoulder.

"See?" Romano said.

"At that moment, I knew," Crosby said.

Hoffman told Crosby to see manager Jim Tracy, who broke the news. Instantly, all ties between the two parties were severed. For every little thing, even how to get reimbursed for his cab ride to the airport, he needed guidance from the Yankees' front office.

"That moment, I wasn't Dodger property," he said. "It was kind of freaky. Nobody expects it with nine minutes left to the deadline."

Half a dozen reporters swarmed Crosby within 10 minutes of his departure from Tracy's office. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Will you get a chance to play for the Yankees? He was hit with questions he needed to ask himself.

"I had no answers. It was confusing. I had mixed feelings, and it was hard for me to answer their questions. I wish I could have in a better way. I was choppy, hesitant," Crosby said. "I didn't know how I felt. I was in such shock."

Then he was in a taxi, then an airplane and then his BMW, which an old high school friend in Las Vegas had packed to the gills with all of Crosby's stuff during his flight west. Friday was also Aug. 1, rent day. His buddy cut the lease.

Driving to Houston, only a sliver of space allowed Crosby to see through the rear-view and right-side mirrors. For his 24-hour run, he encountered no bad weather or traffic problems.

"But I was tired," Crosby said. "I'd been through so much. Really, I didn't have much of an option. I couldn't pull over into a hotel, but I didn't feel like I was putting my life in danger. I never dozed off.

"From everything, though, I was emotionally and psychologically beat. Thank God it was a smooth ride, but it was a battle. I thought it would only be for 15, 16 hours."

Like he thought he'd be a Dodger all of his career. Crosby did not know fellow 51s teammate Scott Proctor had been included in the Ventura deal until he walked into the visitors' clubhouse at Fifth Third Field in Toledo on Saturday and saw the pitcher.

"A familiar face!" Crosby said.

Sunday, in his first game for the Clippers, he went 0-for-4 in a loss at Toledo. In his next three, all Columbus victories, he was 6-for-12.

"Am I here so there are prospects in Triple-A so they can make trades, or is it to help the big-league team?" Crosby said. "A lot has gone through my head, but I'm definitely going to play here and we'll see what happens.

"You reach a point where you're happy you're still playing baseball for a living. And it's an unbelievable organization. A winning organization. You just go out there and put up numbers, and it would be awesome if I could wear the pinstripes one day."

archive