Crawford was drafted in 1995 by the Boston Red Sox and worked as a reliever and spot starter for the team in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. After the 2002 season, which he spent in the minors, he became a free agent and signed briefly with the Oakland Athletics in 2003 and the Cincinnati Reds in 2004, but never made another appearance in the major leagues.\n', '

Crawford is most remembered in Boston for suffering an unusual injury in July 2000 just prior to an expected recall to the Red Sox from their Pawtucket Red Sox AAA affiliate. A day after pitching a seven-inning no-hitter, he allegedly rolled off a hotel bed in Ottawa and landed on a glass that he had left on the floor. The injury required eight stitches.\n', '

On June 21, 2006, in an ESPN The Magazine article by Amy K. Nelson, Crawford, who by then was out of baseball, admitted to using the steroids Deca-Durabolin and Winstrol, human growth hormone and amphetamines from 1999–2001. In the article, Paxton claims that other Red Sox players used and "openly encouraged him to use" drugs and even laughed "when he spilled needles in front of his locker". Current members of the Red Sox who played with Crawford and many former Red Sox players have criticized Crawford and denied that there was an open drug culture in the locker room. However, during the 2000 season, police investigated Red Sox infielder Manny Alexander after they discovered steroids and syringes during a search of his car during a traffic stop.\n', '

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