One player that caught a lot of people’s attention in the MLB based on his name was Coco Crisp. You don’t hear a name like that every day. Crisp spent 15 years playing in the MLB and won a World Series title throughout his career.

Crisp played for four different teams during his career and was the spark that teams needed. He was a threat on the base path and had a lot of range playing in the outfield. Even though people know him as Coco Crisp, that was not his given name.

Coco Crisp’s career

In 1999 the St. Louis Cardinals selected Crisp in the seventh round of the MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Cleveland Indians in 2002. That season he played in 32 games and hit .260. The next season he improved his batting average and batted .266 with 110 hits and 15 stolen bases. During the 2005 season, he batted .300, which was the highest batting average of his career.

After spending his first four seasons in Cleveland, he signed with the Boston Red Sox. He signed a three-year extension with the team. Crisp struggled earlier on in his early career with the Red Sox. In 2007, he struggled at the beginning of the season offensively. But the 2007 season was a good one for the Red Sox. They would go on to win the World Series that year and Crisp got his first title.

In 2008, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals. He had a hot start when the season began batting over .300, but his batting average would drop to a career-low .228 due to shoulder injuries that he suffered. Crisp had to get season-ending surgeries to repair a labrum tear in both of his shoulders. The next season he signed with the Oakland Athletics. During the 2011 season, he led the American League in stolen bases at 49.

Coco Crisp finishing his career in Cleveland

Crisp played seven seasons with the Athletics and then finished his final season back in Cleveland. He finished his career batting .265 with 309 stolen bases, 639 RBIs, and 130 home runs. Crisp provided that spark at times that teams needed, and he played with a lot of energy.

Later in his career, he let his hair grow out and sported the afro look, which attracted a lot of fans. He already gained a fan presence from his name alone, and when he decided to grow the hair out, it made him an even more likable player.

Where did Coco come from?

Coco’s birth name was Covelli Loyce Crisp. His nickname came originally from his sister, who teased him a lot when he was younger and said that he looked like one of the characters on the Cocoa Krispies cereal box.

At first, the nickname was short-lived until he started playing in the minor leagues. His team filled out a questionnaire so they could all get to know each other. Crisp listed Coco as his nickname, and his teammates thought that it was funny. So, they decided to put that name on the scoreboard during a game. That nickname stuck with him ever since, and he officially changed his name on March 5, 2013. So that’s his story on how the Coco came about.