Brandon Crawford, center, reflects on his years in a Giants uniform on April 26. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

Players come and go. That’s a fact of life in any sport. But some are harder to let go. They’ve become a part of the team family. They are a big reason you keep watching even when they are losing. Then suddenly they are gone—often not because they wanted to leave.

Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants was one of those players.

He spent 13 of his 14 years in the Major Leagues playing for the Giants. He was with the St. Louis Cardinals last year; before calling it quits last fall.

But as he said April 26 at a ceremony on the field at Oracle Park: “… I may be stepping away from the field, but I’ll always be a Giant.”

Brandon Crawford during batting practice in 2018 in Atlanta. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

I specifically chose this game to attend knowing it was Crawford’s goodbye party. I didn’t expect to be so moved. I literally had tears in my eyes.

He was one of the good guys. One of the players who truly loved the game. It was more than a job to him.

I don’t remember a time when he didn’t charge a ball. He ran hard even on balls he didn’t hit well.

The highlights shown on the big screen were incredible. He made one spectacular play after another. There’s a reason he is considered the franchise’s greatest shortstop.

Watching him all those years I think I became complacent. Crawford made difficult plays look routine—probably because he did it so often.

I miss him. He’s proven to be difficult to replace on the field and in the fans’ hearts. He cared about us. You could tell in pre- and post-game interviews. You heard it again on Saturday.

Maybe it’s because he is from the Bay Area, growing up a Giants fan that made him even more connected to all of us.

For the fans, Saturday was our opportunity to say a collective thank you with our two standing ovations and multiple rounds of applause to the man and the ball player who brought us so such much joy (including two World Series titles) for so many years.