Boston's Carl Crawford calls day off 'embarrassing'

The seemingly endless soap opera that has been the Red Sox story throughout Bobby Valentine's first season as manager continued Saturday with yet another dramatic chapter.

Valentine, who has clashed with a number of veterans on the injury-riddled team, upset Carl Crawford by sitting him in favor of Daniel Nava in leftfield. He cited the need to protect his troublesome left elbow.

Crawford, who has said he probably will need Tommy John surgery during the offseason, called the decision "embarrassing."

"Not playing against someone is more embarrassing than anything," he said. "My body is fine right now."

The move seemed odd because Crawford, who rejoined the lineup July 16 after beginning the season on the disabled list, finally had shown signs of life in Friday night's lopsided 10-3 loss to the Yankees.

Although Crawford had provided his first home run since last Sept. 3 and boasted a 22-for-69 resume against Yankees starter CC Sabathia, the manager said he was protecting the injury-plagued 30-year-old outfielder by putting him on what he called a "four-day plan," meaning he would not start more than four consecutive games for now.

"It's just what it is, preventative and building up," Valentine said. "We're preventative with this early game [the scheduled 4 p.m. start was delayed 2 hours, 4 minutes by rain] that he doesn't overuse his elbow and then we're building tolerance as we go.

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"I don't think it's going to be four days and a day off all year. I hope not. We're building to a point to get beyond that."

Crawford began the season on the 15-day disabled list as he recovered from surgery on his left wrist and was transferred to the 60-day list May 3. When he was finally ready for a rehab assignment, that process was interrupted by a mildly strained left groin.

Crawford is hitting .222, with one home run and two RBIs through his first 10 games. He has struck out 10 times and walked once in his first 38 plate appearances for an on-base percentage of .263. Friday night's homer ended an 0-for-18 drought.

When it was pointed out to Valentine that he had previously violated the four-day plan by allowing Crawford to start six games in a row as soon as he was activated, the manager said he had not followed the advice of the medical staff.

"I did a manager no-no and went against what I was told to do. Never to be done again," he said. "I like to have Carl every day. I'd like to have all my good players every day. But I understand the situation better now than I did then."

If Valentine seems overly protective, it may be understandable. Boston has placed 22 players on the disabled list this season for 25 separate stints. The 22 players are the most by any team since the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had that many in 1999.