Rays' Crawford showing off his glove

The ball was past Carl Crawford. That's what made the catch so unbelievable, so "unreal" to David Price, so "amazing" to Carlos Pena, so "wow" to Gabe Kapler.

Even Crawford admitted that his diving catch Monday night on the drive into the left-center-field gap by Baltimore first baseman Garrett Atkins was one of the top plays of his career.

"That was a nice catch," Crawford said. "I made catches like that before."

It was a Gold Glove catch by a Gold Glove-worthy left fielder, according to Rays manager Joe Maddon.

"I think he's really out to show everybody why he deserves a Gold Glove this year," Maddon said.

While Monday's catch was his most spectacular, it wasn't the first time Crawford wowed us with a diving catch this season.

"Just seems like the ball's been coming my way," he said. "I have a chance to make those plays."

Crawford has not won a Gold Glove, despite being regarded by many, including those who can back it up with defensive stats, as the best left fielder in the game. The reason is simple: The award, voted on by managers and coaches, does not designate an outfielder's position. They just vote for three outfielders, and they tend to vote for center fielders.

Since 2001, two of the three outfield spots have gone to Torii Hunter, a center fielder, and Ichiro Suzuki, a right fielder. And in each of those nine years, the third spot went to a center fielder - Vernon Wells (three times), Grady Sizemore (twice), Mike Cameron (twice), Darin Erstad and Adam Jones.

"He did not win a Gold Glove last year, and he should have," Maddon said. "And that is one thing that I'd possibly (like to) see reconsidered, is how they give that out. It should be more by position as opposed to just picking three outfielders. You don't just choose four infielders. You choose a third baseman, a shortstop, etc. Had that been the case last year, Carl would have easily won the award as the left fielder."

For the record, Crawford said he is not trying to win a Gold Glove this season.

"To be honest with you, I don't know what you're supposed to do when you're trying to win it, 'cause I haven't won one," Crawford said. "But I'm not thinking about that."

If Crawford won't, his teammates will.

"I'm telling you, man, he is a Gold Glover, and he needs to get recognized for that," Pena said. "He has earned it. We talk about the last few days, it's the last few years he's been making plays like that. For me, it's a no-brainer. That guy's one of the best outfielders in the game. I just hope he gets recognized like he should."

Gabe Kapler, now in his 12th major-league season, said he hasn't seen a better left fielder than Crawford since he reached the big leagues in 1998.

"He runs faster than the last life the baseball has," Kapler said. "Obviously, it's all optical, so it's hard to quantify what that means, but that's what it looks like to the naked eye, that he runs faster than the baseball."

The play on Atkins caused such a buzz because every Rays fielder reacted as if the ball was going to reach the wall on one bounce.

"It really looked as if that ball was crushed, it was a clean double," Kapler said. "When that ball left the bat it was a double. He got such a great jump on it, he outran it."

"Off the bat, I thought there was no way anyone would catch it," Pena said. "And even when he was almost there, I was like, 'No way.' It's too far. A couple of - two, three, four steps - next thing you know he takes off like a rocket, catches it. It was ridiculous. What a catch."

Pena said he clapped after Crawford made the catch.

"I was just like a kid. I was clapping in my glove," he said. "I totally left my position. I was in awe of what he just did. I became just like a fan for that split-second."

Price, who was in the dugout, said he reached up and tipped his cap toward the left fielder.

"If I was pitching," Price said. "I probably would have run out to left and gave him a hug."