Carl Crawford says he's over his hate for Boston

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Out of baseball for more than a year but earning nearly $22 million in the final year of the $142 million deal he signed with the Red Sox, Carl Crawford tells Bleacher Report he's gotten over the hatred he carried for Boston.

“I carried hate for that city for a long time,” Crawford told BR's Scott Miller. “But now, I’m over that. I feel much better, because I learned that you can’t hate something or you never get over it. It definitely was a learning experience, definitely that. I got that out of it, if nothing else.”

Released by the Dodgers after playing in only 30 games by June 2016, Crawford, 36, had leveled plenty of criticism of Boston and what he called the "toxic" environment there. An All-Star outfielder with the Tampa Bay Rays, Crawford signed the seven-year deal with the Red Sox before the 2011 season and played only 161 games for them before being dealt to L.A. with Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Nick Punto in August 2012.

Crawford, now living in his native Houston, told Miller: “I focus on the positive all the time. Even when the negative energy comes your way, I still find a way to find positive light.”

He said he'll be cheering for the Dodgers this postseason.

"I still got love for that organization," he said. "They saved me at a time when I felt I was just going to collapse as a human, break down as a human. That's why I'll always have love for L.A., because that city just really brought me back to life."

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