For the Love of Dogs and Baseball: J.P. Crawford Pitches Sandwiches for Charity

by M. Anthony Davis

Seattle Mariners star shortstop, J.P. Crawford, is teaming up with local bagel shop Blazing Bagels to create a custom sandwich. The partnership also combines his love for animals and giving back to the community.

Named after Crawford, the new sandwich, the CrawDADDY, will include turkey, bacon, and salami, with a chive smear inside of an everything bagel.

"The sandwich is fire!" Crawford tells me. "I already tried it. It has everything I love, and it slaps!"

For every sandwich sold, $1 will be donated to a charity of Crawford's choice.

Crawford, who grew up in Southern California, has lifelong ties to many charitable organizations that support youth baseball players in underserved communities. As a teen, Crawford went to Compton's MLB Urban Youth Academy, which provides free baseball instruction to students.

"They really got my name out there," Crawford says about the Urban Youth Academy. "They showed me that baseball was a worldwide thing. I got the opportunity to go play in Miami Marlins Stadium, and I won the MVP for that tournament there in the stadium."

As a youth, he remembers meeting big leaguers like Aaron Hicks who would hit balls and give advice to young players. While Crawford, who currently lives in Arizona, is not able to volunteer full time with the new generation of Urban Youth Academy players, he now follows in the big leaguers' footsteps by interacting with youth in his off seasons.

"I want to let them know that I'm just a regular guy," Crawford explains. "So, they can talk to me about anything. I want them to know that I was once in their shoes."

For the partnership with Blazing Bagels, Crawford has a local charity in mind — NW Snowdog Rescue (NWSR). As the proud owner of a family of huskies, Crawford is excited to support an organization that helps these dogs find loving homes.

"We love huskies," Crawford says. "A lot of huskies just don't get the chance to go to a good home because they're known as crazy wolf dogs. You know, a lot of people don't really know the true nature of huskies. And I want to change that."

Crawford's love for huskies startedhis first summer playing professional baseball. His fianc's parents, who had two huskies, had recently birthed a litter of nine puppies. Crawford and his fianc adopted one puppy — Loki. Originally, Loki was to be the Crawfords' only husky. However, there was one more puppy that caught Crawford's attention.

"There was one more in the pack that really kept bothering me, you know, we just got along and we really clicked. His name was Thor. So, we kept him too."

Soon after adopting their two huskies, the Crawfords found themselves in a pet store during a shopping trip, face-to-face with another beautiful husky.

"She's brown and white with the best mask, and she's so cute. We play with her, and sure enough, we walk out with her and call my mom and dad. Surprise!"

After surprising his parents with a husky of their own, the Crawfords, along with each of their parents, became owners of five huskies altogether. And through his love for the breed, Crawford has decided to use his partnership with Blazing Bagels to help more families experience the joy of owning huskies.

The CrawDADDY sandwich can be purchased at all Blazing Bagels locations during the month of July. For each sandwich sold, $1 will be donated to NW Snowdog Rescue.

📸 Featured Image: The Crawfords and their two dogs inside their Seattle home. (Photo: Alex Garland)