Wellesley - Rob Crawford is running
for president - president of Red Sox Nation. Like
many politicians, Crawford is billing himself as "a regular guy," one
who
can relate to his constituency, who knows what they're going through.
But
Crawford has at least one thing no other politicians can claim - he
wrote his own campaign song.
Recorded in his basement, directly onto his Mac, Crawford's "I'm A
Member of
Red Sox Nation" was played at Fenway Park during the fifth inning of the
July 18 game versus Kansas City; that same day, he performed it with
Tina
Cervasio on the NESN pregame show. The song is his hook, he said, there
to
help him stand out from the crowd, but it is also "another way to win
if I
don't get enough votes . One of my little private goals is for this
song to
last for a long time. Twenty-five years from now, I would love to hear
the Fenway Park
organist playing the tune."
The 38-year-old Wellesley resident is one of 25 candidates vying to be
the
first-ever president of Red Sox Nation. Selected from more than 1,000
applicants from around the world, the candidates are a diverse group,
and
include well-knowns such as Jerry Remy, Peter Gammons and Doris Kearns
Goodwin. When he first heard about the contest, Crawford said he thought
"it's crazy to have an election for president of Red Sox Nation because
it
obviously has to be Johnny Pesky, Jerry Remy or Peter Gammons." They
are the
"de facto presidents," he added, the obvious choices.
But he figured if there were going to be an election and the Red Sox
were
soliciting applications from fans around the world, it was worth a shot.
Like the 2004 Red Sox who asked, "Why not us?" Crawford asked himself,
"Why
not me?" He is now one of the chosen 25, hoping to garner enough votes
by
the time the polls close on Sunday, Sept. 9, to make it into the final
10.
The winner will serve out a one-year term as president of "the crazy
people
who make up Red Sox Nation around the world," Crawford said, and act as
a
"liaison between the family of Red Sox Nation and the Red Sox front
office."
Because this is the first time there will be someone in such a position,
though, no one really knows exactly what the job will entail. "Whoever
is
elected will make the job whatever they want it to be," said Crawford.
He
has a few ideas of his own, such as maintaining an online blog by, for
and
about the fans, and getting the 2004 World Series trophy out of its
case and
back on tour. "That's such an easy way for the Red Sox to spread joy,"
he
said. "It's a magical thing when people hold that trophy, or get to
touch it."
And because music is such a big part of his life, as president, he said
"I
am going to try to rally a bunch of famous Boston area musicians to
create
an album of music about the Red Sox, and about being a sports fan in
Boston." He'd like to see a CD of songs written solely about the Red
Sox, and about Red Sox Nation.
But first and foremost, he said, as president he would work to get
tickets
in the hands of people who normally have trouble getting them; going to
Fenway, he said, "is an experience unlike any other." He already has
several
ideas on how to go about making that happen.
In his campaign platform, posted on the Red Sox Web site, Crawford
writes
that his first act as president would be "to solicit applications for,
then
appoint, 10 'Red Sox angels' in New England, each of whom would be
given a
block of four season tickets to give away, game by game, to people whose
lives - for whatever reason - would be deeply touched by a trip to
Fenway
for a Red Sox home game." Just doing that, he said, would allow 3,240
people
a year to experience "the euphoria of Fenway," when they might
otherwise not have that opportunity.
Growing up in a household where people fought over the Boston Globe
sports
section every morning and the only TV allowed on school nights was Red
Sox
games, Crawford said the team has long been "part of the fabric of all
of my
major family relationships. Except for my relationship with my wife,
all of
my other family relationships have the Red Sox at the center."
Every year when he was a kid, his father would write a rhyming poem for
his
kids' principals on Opening Day, "seeking forgiveness for the hookey
that we
would be playing once again," Crawford said. He has not missed a home
opener in 30 years.
Now a father of four (with a fifth on the way), Crawford coaches
Wellesley
Little League, and is raising some crazed Red Sox fans of his own; his
oldest son, now 8, is one of the most rabid fans he knows. The best
parts of
being one of the millions of people whose "lives and moods" as Crawford
likes to say "are, for better or for worse, tangled up with the fate of
the
Red Sox," are the extreme highs (and lows) the team puts you through he
said
- and Fenway. "Fenway Park may be even more important than the team
itself
in terms of its impact on people," he said, with its history, beauty,
simplicity and authenticity.
"Some of us were born Red Sox fans, and some of us became Red Sox fans
later
in life for an infinite number of reasons," Crawford writes at the end
of
his online statement. "Some of us know who Jack Brohamer and John Wasdin
are, and some of us don't know and don't care - yet love the Sox as
ardently
as those who have been steeped in Red Sox tradition for decades. For
some of
us, our main goal in life is to see the Red Sox win the World Series;
for
all of us, it's certainly among our top three. Some of us wear blue Sox
hats, some of us wear green Sox hats, some of us wear pink Sox hats, and
those of us with really great hair go hatless. Regardless of our
particular
fashion choices, however, we're all part of Red Sox Nation, all part of
an
insane family unlike any other on the planet." An insane family that he
would love the opportunity to represent.
To vote for Rob Crawford for President of Red Sox Nation, go online to
www.redsoxnation.com/president and vote by Sunday, Sept. 9. To hear his
song, "I'm A Member of Red Sox Nation," and see the music video, visit
his
blog, www.crawdaddycove.com or click on the link below:
"I'm A Member of
Red Sox Nation"
