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Liver disease, hospital stays not slowing down Humble’s Lair Crawford

VYPE Staff
Mar 29, 2019, 2:57 pm
Crawford, who is on a daily antibiotic now to fend off infections, returned to work on Monday. Via VYPE

Originally Appeared on Vype

HOUSTON – A few minutes into the interview, I finally asked the question I had wanted the answer to before I even dialed the number.

"Was there ever a point during the season where you thought you needed to hand the team over to your assistant coach for an extended amount of time?"

The phone line went silent for a couple of seconds.

"Yes" was the firm answer back from the other end of the line.

The voice delivering it was Humble boys basketball coach Lair Crawford, who led the Wildcats to the program's 26th-straight playoff berth this past season, and found out in September he had liver disease and needed a transplant if he didn't get better.

Despite adhering to the doctor's orders of a low-salt diet, no drinking, exercising and generally not putting anything bad into his body, Crawford's liver continued to get worse as the months progressed.

In December, it landed him in the hospital for a week, during which he missed one game.

Then in January, another week.

This time missing a pair of games in the midst of District 22-6A play.

"It was stressful," Crawford said. "I'm sure it was a distraction on the kids because I didn't tell them exactly what was going on at the time. They fought through it. We talk about it all the time, this isn't my team or coach's team. This is you all's team."

During his weeklong absences, longtime assistant coach Leon Morris Jr. took care of the day-to-day operations of running practice and coaching the games he missed.

"That's another thing that helped get me through this," Crawford said about Morris. "If I had a new assistant or somebody I barely knew it would have been a lot more stressful on me. Because I would have felt like I don't know if he can handle it, I need to be there. Leon was great.

"He just took it and ran. He's proven he's ready to be a head coach."

While he was in the hospital, Crawford said Morris would come up to his room to talk basketball. The 10th-year Humble coach unable to be with is guys watched a lot of film to help while he was out.

During the games he missed, Crawford said he would follow the team's Twitter feed for score updates, which were being posted by a parent.

"Everybody was like you need to rest and take care of yourself but this is in some ways our life," he said. "Especially during the season you can't just turn it off."

It was during the January stay in the hospital that Crawford contemplated stepping back for the rest of the season.

The veteran coach ran the idea past his wife.

"She told me I was full of it," Crawford said with a laugh.

Then he knew he needed to talk to Humble ISD Athletic Director Troy Kite, who used to be the head boys basketball coach at Humble High School before moving into administration.

"He basically said no," Crawford said not divulging into the entire conversation.

Kite worked with Crawford during his time in the hospital, easing his mind about the days of worked missed and even helping out during practices at times.

"He has been amazing," Crawford said about Kite. "I can't think of a better person to work for. He's been there with me every step. Worked some things out here and helped so much. He's made it a lot less stressful as far as worrying about my job and things."

Crawford returned after the hospital stay in January to the team for the remainder of the season, which included the program's first-ever playoff berth as a Class 6A program.

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Houston's magic number stays at 2

Astros drop series finale to Mariners after rough start by Greinke

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With their magic number at 2 to secure their spot in the 2020 MLB postseason, the Astros returned to T-Mobile Park in Seattle for this three-game series' finale and rubber game. Here are the highlights from the game:

Final Score: Mariners 3, Astros 2.

Record: 28-28, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Nick Margevicius (2-3, 4.57 ERA)

Losing pitcher: Zack Greinke (3-3, 4.03 ERA).

Greinke unable to complete five innings

While the Astros were being held scoreless, the Mariners were putting up runs on Zack Greinke. They took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles followed by an RBI-double with one out. Greinke would stop the damage there, then looked to settle in over the next few frames.

He allowed just one baserunner in the second through fourth innings, a one-out single in the bottom of the fourth. Then, in the fifth, the Mariners would knock him out of the game by getting a one-out single that would come around to score on a two-out RBI-double, followed by an RBI-single to extend the lead to 3-0. Greinke faced one more batter, allowing a single before Dusty Baker would take the ball and move to the bullpen. His final line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR, 92 P.

Astros try a late rally, come up short

On the other end, the Astros were unable to break through against Nick Margevicius, getting just one hit and two walks through the first four innings. They had a chance to get on the board in the top of the fifth, starting the inning with back-to-back singles before a walk loaded the bases with one out to turn the lineup over. They'd come up empty, though, with George Springer striking out before a long flyball to center by Jose Altuve to end the inning.

After finishing the fifth for Greinke, Andre Scrubb returned for a scoreless sixth, working around a one-out walk. Still 3-0, Blake Taylor took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, erasing a leadoff single and two-out walk to keep Seattle from extending their lead. Houston had another chance to score in the top of the eighth, getting two runners in scoring position, but again would strand them.

Cy Sneed was the next reliever out for the Astros, working around a two-out walk to send the game on to the ninth. The Astros would avoid the shutout, getting a two-RBI single by pinch-hitting Josh Reddick in the top of the ninth to make it a one-run game at 3-2. That's as close as they'd come, though, as the Mariners would eventually get the final out to take the series and keep the Astros' magic number stagnant at 2.


Up Next: There is one series left in the regular season for Houston, and it awaits them in Arlington with a four-game series against the Rangers, who are well eliminated from playoff contention. The first of the four games will start at 7:05 PM Central on Thursday with a pitching matchup of Lance Lynn (6-2, 2.53 ERA) for Texas and Cristian Javier (4-2, 3.33 ERA) for the Astros.

astros recap astros vs mariners astros score mariners score mariners recap mlb mlb recap zack greinke astros

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