Football is about collision of movement.  Basketball is about poetry in motion.  Baseball is about family.

Every old franchise has a list of brothers that have put on the same jersey.  Heck, the Griffeys were in the same dugout for a few years.  Most baseball fans can reminisce fondly on summer days spent in the bleachers with fathers, uncles, brothers/sisters and friends.  That’s where you learn the game.  That’s family time, and the Crawford family has spent plenty of time at the Lakewood High School baseball and softball diamonds this season.

In 1985, four-time Canadian Football League All-Star defensive back Larry Crawford was working out with the San Diego Chargers when he met his future wife, Beth.  The two moved to a Lakewood suburb and started a family.  Twenty-five years later, senior Eliza Crawford and freshman J.P. Crawford are making their parents proud as integral parts of Lakewood’s Moore League Champion softball and baseball teams.

Ask any athlete with a famous last name, or even athletic parents, what it’s like living with the expectation. Parents obviously expect their kids to be athletic.  Coaches, teammates and fans expect the offspring to be carbon copies of the original.  And the kids expect to live up.

“I’m J.P.’s biggest critic,” says 18-year-old Eliza of her 15-year-old brother.  “I’m his biggest fan too, but when he hits a single, we expect it.  It’s just how we are.”

The Crawford family expects to perform, and they’re pretty competitive about it.  Starting at a young age both Eliza and J.P. battled in any forum.  Hitting whiffle balls furthest in the backyard, H.O.R.S.E in the driveway, laps in the pool, running to the fence and back.  Even at the diner table.  He/She who eats more is King/Queen. At least until the next challenge.  “When it comes to who can text more, I always win,” laughs Eliza.

The friendly family feud even stretches across state lines.  Five years ago Larry was with J.P. in Texas for a PONY Tournament while Beth was with Eliza in Oklahoma for a Traveling Softball Tournament.  J.P. hit three home runs in one game against Puerto Rico to help his team advance to the title game.  Eliza went to the diamond the next day with that news, and hit three home runs of her own.  “I was excited for her, obviously, but I was a little mad,” chuckled J.P. while reminiscing this week.

Since then it’s been the older Eliza blazing the trail for her brother.  Four years ago, she was part of an incredibly talented and athletic freshman class that went straight to the varsity roster.  “E-Baby”, as her teammates call her, started at shortstop her freshman year and immediately made her presence known.

“She’s got a big stick at the plate,” says Lakewood softball coach Andy Miramontes.  “She goes up there ready to do damage, and she’s such a natural… I’m not sure what the total is at this point, but every time she hits a home run it increases her school records.”

Four years and four Moore League titles later, Eliza is leading her team into the playoffs while J.P. is trying to help his squad on the big diamond.  But that is after a lot of hard work by both shortstops, because four years ago the challenge was set.

“My parents were talking about how we could be at school and both of us to be on varsity in the same year, and as soon as Eliza made varsity as a freshman, I knew I had to do it too,” says J.P.

That goal was a tall task because as far as longtime Lakewood baseball coach Spud O’Neil knows, J.P. is the first freshman to ever start in the field and rack up more than 100 at bats for the Lancers.

“We knew he was coming in, but we didn’t get him until late for American Legion,” says O’Neil of last summer.  “As a team we were floundering and J.P. started hitting right away.  We turned it around and ended up making the playoffs… the best move we’ve made this year was talking to Jeff (Yamaguchi) and asking him to move to first base to keep J.P. in there, and Jeff is such a leader he just said, ‘oh yeah coach’… the guys treat J.P. like a senior, like he belongs, but he still has to carry the bucket.  He’s still a freshman.”

Between the lines J.P. doesn’t play like a freshman, and in the biggest games this year he has proven his worth.  Eliza recalls the triple to leadoff the game against Poly as her favorite moment this year for her brother, and Larry goes all the way back to the first match up with Wilson for an impressive double play that had the huge Friday crowd on their feet.

“I knew we had something,” says Larry of that play.  “The ball was hit so hard, and he moved so naturally… you see your friends with their kids, but you never know what it’s going to be like until, well, until now.”

It all started with a six-year-old J.P. taking infield practice with his sister’s 10-and-under softball team.  Now the two lefty sticks are trying to extend a memorable three-month period for their family with a few playoff wins.

But never fear Lakewood hardball fans, Larry and Beth say the youngest of the Crawford’s, nine-year-old Julia, could be the most talented of the three children.

“Oh yeah,” said Larry last month with his son by his side, his eldest daughter on the field, and his youngest daughter dominating the handball competition on a nearby wall.  “She’s gonna be good.”

And competitive, for sure.  Hard for a father not to smile at a moment like that, and Larry Crawford has been carrying around a mile-wide smile as of late.  Humble, easy-going and incredibly athletic.  It’s a good time to be a Lakewood Crawford.