SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Shortly before 2 p.m. on Friday, the sky finally cleared. Brandon Crawford stepped onto the grass and went into a familiar routine, positioning his feet, looking out at his target, and adjusting his grip.
He did all of this as he prepared to swing right-handed.
Crawford, a lefty batter on the baseball field, plays golf right-handed. He got a chance to show his swing off Friday for a good cause, and he hopes this is just the beginning. The shortstop's family put on the Crawford Invitational Charity Golf Tournament for ALS CURE, an event that put two rival organizations on the same team.
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SIGN UP HERE The proceeds from the event went to ALS CURE, a non-profit established by Mike Piscotty, the father of A's outfielder Stephen Piscotty. Their foundation works to invest capital and help research for the development of a cure for ALS. Gretchen Piscotty passed away from ALS last May.
This was actually the third annual tournament for the Crawfords. It started with Brandon playing golf with his dad, Mike, and sister Amy.
"Last year we kind of came up with the idea that we could make it bigger, so we had a few guys out there, a lot of my dad's friends and people who would want to come down to spring training," Brandon said. "And then some guys from the team. Then we thought about making it a yearly thing and to do it for charity."
It was easy to pick the right foundation. Mike Crawford and Mike Piscotty have been friends for years. Their daughters played softball together.
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Mike Crawford did the heavy lifting in recent months, putting together a tournament with an awards dinner and live auction fundraiser. The Giants and A's both came on as sponsors, along with about a half-dozen companies.
The field was full of many of Crawford’s current teammates, including a foursome of pitchers — Tony Watson, Will Smith, Derek Holland and Sam Dyson — who came out on top in the team format. Former Giants Travis Ishikawa, Rich Aurilia and George Kontos played, along with Larry Baer, members of the A's organization, and friends who flew out from the Bay Area.
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Crawford hopes to make the tournament a spring fixture and add more friends from other teams. Mike Trout and Nolan Arenado are among those he has talked to about participating in the tournament, a Crawford family tradition that became an important day for the Piscotty family.
"When I found out that they were going to donate the money to my dad's foundation, I was at a bit of a loss for words," Stephen Piscotty said. "It means a tremendous amount."