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Crawford on Valentine: 'I think I'm going to like playing for him'

Print | Comments () Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 21, 2012 01:57 PM

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By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

FORT MYERS, Fla. — One of the stories that lingered a bit this winter was Bobby Valentine's inability to get Carl Crawford on the telephone to introduce himself.

It even sounded like Crawford was ducking him for a time.

Untrue, says Crawford. The reason was far less sinister.

"I change my number all the time," Crawford said. "That's all it was. I changed by my number and even my agents didn't have it for a while. We eventually talked."

Crawford said that from what he knows of Valentine, he likes him.

"He's a high-energy guy and I'm the same way," Crawford said. "We had a good talk yesterday and he was making me laugh. I think I'm going to like playing for him."

Crawford laughed at the notion that he might have been offended over Valentine criticizing his swing on ESPN last season.

"Trust me, I know my swing was screwed up," he said. "He wasn't saying anything I didn't already know."