Dodger's praise warms Crawford's heart GIANTS Crawford's fielding draws praise, and he wants hitting to do the same

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Scottsdale, Ariz. --

Of all the compliments Brandon Crawford heard last year, this one struck the sweetest chord.

"I'm prepared to say with confidence that Brandon Crawford is the best defensive shortstop in baseball. His combination of instincts, hands and arm strength separates him from the rest."

Any Giant could have said it, but none did.

It was a Dodger, catcher A.J. Ellis, in one of the daily World Series analyses he wrote for the Los Angeles Times.

At 26, Crawford has nothing to prove defensively as he begins his second full season as the Giants' shortstop. As always, the skepticism points toward his bat, which many folks left for dead after he hit .204 as a rookie in 2011.

Raising his average to .248 during last year's championship season was no small feat from the eighth spot, where grooved fastballs are hard to find in the National League.

Crawford wants more hits in 2013. Marco Scutaro, who signed on to be Crawford's double-play mate for the next three seasons, believes it will happen.

In his first full season in the majors, Brandon Crawford helped anchor the Giants' defense with his flashy, solid shortstop play. In his first full season in the majors, Brandon Crawford helped anchor the Giants' defense with his flashy, solid shortstop play. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Dodger's praise warms Crawford's heart 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

"He's a guy who can be really good," Scutaro said. "Defensively he's unbelievable. At the end of the season last year he did some adjustments with his hitting. He was a little more consistent.

"When he starts getting consistent with his bat, he's going to be something special."

Crawford had 108 hits last year when he really needed 109. One more would have raised his average to a more mellifluous .250, which, Crawford said, "sounds better than two-forty-anything."

With more instant replay in place he might have had his .250. In a July 23 home game against the Padres, Crawford appeared to hit a double, but rookie umpire Jordan Blake called him out when the Padres appealed that Crawford did not touch first base on the way to second. Replays showed he did.

Later that night Crawford made a groundball out. When he got to first base he sarcastically stomped on the bag, which would have been a harmless protest had he stopped there. But Crawford turned toward the umpire and said, "Did I get it that time?"

Crawford earned his first big-league ejection.

"I guess he didn't like that very much," Crawford said, laughing about it. "If I said it on Twitter, he probably wouldn't have thrown me out."

Crawford had one more crack at .250, albeit a tiny one. With his average at .249, manager Bruce Bochy had him pinch-hit in the eighth inning of the final regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, against Clayton Kershaw, in the late-afternoon shadows.

He was called out on a third-strike curveball "up here," Crawford said as he motioned toward his neck.

Crawford hit .285 with 10 extra-base hits in 130 at-bats over the final two months of the season after many months of trial-and-error adjustments to find the right stance and approach.

He believes he has not reached his ceiling, saying, "I've hit at pretty much every level. Hopefully I'll get enough hits this year that it won't matter that I miss one base - that I supposedly miss one base."

The Giants gladly would accept another year of .250-ish hitting in tandem with Crawford's defense, which did not earn a Gold Glove but impressed a national audience during the postseason, particularly because of two important plays in the World Series at Detroit.

With the Giants leading 2-0 in Game 3 and Tim Lincecum pitching in relief, Crawford dived to rob Miguel Cabrera of a potential single up the middle with no outs in the eighth inning.

With the Giants trailing 2-1 in Game 4 and a runner on base, Crawford changed direction after Matt Cain's glove deflected a Quintin Berry grounder. Crawford grabbed it with his bare hand and fired to first ahead of the fleet left-handed hitter to end the fifth inning.

And garner some rave reviews.

"It was obviously fun watching the World Series games later and hearing what the commentators said," Crawford said. "I was playing well, so they had all good things to say. I read what Ellis said. That's pretty nice, him coming out nationally and saying that about a rival team's player. I thought that said a lot."

Crawford readily acknowledges he wants to be known as one of the game's best players at one of its most athletic positions.

"I would hope so," he said. "I always have said I take a lot of pride in my defense, and that's something I've always worked really hard to get good at. I would hope that people think that. If they don't, I'm still going to go out and work and play the best I can defensively."