Servais' contest gives Crawford 'suite' win

September 24th, 2020

Mariners manager Scott Servais has been encouraging his players to register to vote this year, and the end result was a pretty “suite” deal for shortstop .

Servais has frequently worn a “Register to Vote” T-shirt during pregame activities this season and has spoken to players about the importance of being involved in the process, no matter where their political interests lie.

“It is a way to have a voice,” Servais said. “We all have a voice and our vote counts.”

So Servais created a contest to encourage participation and on Wednesday held a drawing among all the players and coaches who are now registered to vote, with the winner receiving the use of one of the team’s San Francisco hotel suites for this weekend’s final road trip to face the A’s.

Crawford, the team’s 25-year-old shortstop, had his name drawn out of the hat and will be living in a little luxury for the club’s four-night stay in San Francisco, which includes an off-day on Thursday before the series starts Friday.

“J.P. was pretty happy, and good for him,” said Servais. “We had a little fun with that.”

For Crawford, the timing is extra nice as the Mariners will be spending even more time than normal in their rooms on this trip. With the playoffs beginning next week, Major League Baseball is enforcing a complete quarantine bubble for clubs who might be participating in the postseason or are playing teams who are headed for the postseason.

Teams have been following strict COVID-19 protocols all year, but the rules will be even tighter now as players and staff will not be able to leave their hotel other than to go to the ballpark.

“The last week, it’s really getting clamped down,” Servais said. “They don’t want anything to happen before they go into the playoff run, so we literally cannot leave the hotel once we go to San Francisco. There’s no going to Starbucks. There’s no ordering Uber Eats. You’re at the hotel, you’re locked down, it’s room service and that’s it.”

And for Crawford, a nice suite to soak it all in.