Linton Blaine Crim...Wife, Katie (married 12/12/20)...Couple met at Mississippi College, where Blaine played Division II baseball and Katie played soccer...Blaine played four seasons for the Choctaws, finishing as the program’s all-time leader in hits (250)…Totaled a .350 average with 35 HR and 196 RBI in 189 career games…Named Conference Player of the Year as a senior…Combined to hit .383 (132-for-345) with 11 HR and 90 RBI in 81 games across two summers (2017-18) with the Southern Ohio Copperheads of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League…Led the Copperheads to a franchise-record 31 wins in 2018, batting .405 with seven HR and 52 RBI to earn the circuit’s batting title and Player of the Year award…Attended St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Ala., and was named Coastal Alabama Player of the Year as a senior…Finished his high school career with a .521 average; also went 12-1 with a 1.71 ERA on the mound…Enjoys fishing in his free time.
2024
Spent entire season on Round Rock’s active roster, batting .277/.370/.469/.839 (140-for-505) with 20 home runs, 33 doubles, 86 RBI and 70 walks across a career-high 134 games, his second full campaign at the Triple-A level…Ranked among Pacific Coast League hitters in doubles (third), hits (tied for sixth), walks (seventh), RBI (ninth) and home runs (tied for 15th)…Made 119 starts at first base (.992 fielding percentage) and 12 starts at designated hitter…Hit just .215 (57-for-265) in his first 72 games from 3/29-6/30, then slashed .346/.424/.600/1.024 (83-for-240) with 13 home runs, 20 doubles and 47 RBI in his final 62 games (from 7/1 to end of season)…Was named Rangers Minor League Player of the Month for July, hitting .453 (29-for-64) with a 1.217 OPS and ranking among PCL leaders in batting average (first), OBP (first, .561), times on base (first, 46), OPS (second) and slugging percentage (fourth, .656)…Hit eight homers in August, second-most in the PCL to Las Vegas’ Jordan Diaz…Slugged 15 of his 20 home runs on the year against right-handed pitching, owning similar splits vs. righties and lefties (.836 OPS vs. RHP, .850 OPS vs. LHP)…Season-best 12-game hit streak from 8/15-8/29 (.358 BA, six HR, 1.196 OPS)…Homered twice on three occasions: 4/26 vs. LV, 8/28 vs. OKC, 9/7 at LV…Career-high seven RBI on 4/26 vs. LV (3-for-5, 2B, two HR).
2023
Crim earned the 2023 True Ranger award, which highlights a player who represents the core values of the organization in a positive light both on and off the field… batted .289/.385/.506/.891 (143-494) with 22 HR, 5 3B, 31 2B, and 85 RBI in 133 G for Round Rock (AAA), ranking among qualified Pacific Coast League leaders in G (fourth), H (fourth), 2B (T4th), OPS (seventh), SLG (eighth), BA (10th), RBI (11th), OBP (11th) and HR (T11th)…drew a career-high 71 BB with a 12.2% walk rate – the highest single-season mark of his career and a dramatic increase from his 8.7% in 2022…named Rangers Minor League Player of the Month in July after batting .329 (24- 73) with 6 HR, 1 3B, 4 2B, 14 RBI, and 15 BB…recorded pair of season-high 12-G hit streaks from 4/23-5/9 and 9/7-21… hit 2 HR apiece on 5/14 and 9/15, the eighth and ninth multi-HR efforts of his minor league career…saw a 23-point increase in his BA vs. RHP from 2022 to 2023, batting .286/.372/.504/.877 vs. right-handed pitchers last season (.263 in ’22), compared to .298/.415/.511/.926 vs. lefties…18 of his 22 HR came vs. righties…appeared defensively as a first baseman (99 G/97 GS) and third baseman (6 G/GS)…made 50 starts as the Express cleanup hitter, also making starts in the fifth (37 G), third (24 G), seventh (9 G), sixth (6 G) and eighth (5 G) spots of the lineup… batted .196 (11-56) with two HR and eight RBI in 22 G for Escogido of the Dominican Winter League following the conclusion of the minor league season…marked his third straight year playing winter baseball internationally (appeared for Mayaguez of Puerto Rican Winter League from 2021-22).
2022
Slashed .293/.357/.485/.843 (151-515) across two levels in the Texas farm system in his third professional season...selected as an Organization All-Star by MiLB.com…led TEX farmhands in HR (24), RBI (96), XBH (51) and total bases (250)…did most of his damage at Double-A Frisco (119 G) before promotion to Triple-A Round Rock (13 G) on 9/13…was selected Texas League ‘Player of the Week’ for 8/29-9/4 after homering in five consecutive games and slashing .500/.533/1.214/1.747 with 6 HR, 15 RBI and 10 R…hit .390 against LHP with 16 XBH and 28 RBI…primarily played first base (109 G), but also saw action as a designated hitter (23 G).
2021
A High-A East End of Season All-Star, Crim combined to bat .296/.358/.548/.906 (121-409) over 108 G between Hickory (A+) and Frisco (AA) in his first-ever exposure to the full-season levels…led Texas farmhands with career-high 29 home runs and ranked 2nd in RBI (80) to only Dustin Harris (85)…slashed .300/.372/.559/.931 (81-270) with 20 HR and 61 RBI in 73 G for Hickory before promotion to Frisco on 8/3…was named High-A East July Player of the Month after batting .393/.481/.843/1.323 (35-89) with 12 HR and 28 RBI in his final full month with the Crawdads…posted a .288/.331/.525/.856 (40-139) slash line in 35 G at Double-A, closing the season on a 9-G hit streak over which he batted .308 (12-39)…saw action defensively at 4 different positions: 1B (63 GS), 3B (10 GS), LF (5 GS), RF (2 GS)...WINTER LEAGUE: Slashed .406/.452/.594/1.046 (41-101) with 3 HR and 25 RBI in 25 G for Mayaguez of the Puerto Rican Winter League…became the first United States-born player to capture the league’s batting title since Mayaguez’s Luke Easter in 1948-49…had hits in 22 of 25 G, and finished regular season with a 9-G hit streak…was named to the All-LBPRC Team as a designated hitter, though he made 17 GS at 1B (13) and 3B (4).
2020
Did not see official game action after Minor League season was canceled due to pandemic.
2019
Named Northwest League Most Valuable Player after leading the circuit in BA (.335), RBI (45) and OPS (.927)…Combined to bat .348 (77-for-221) in 55 games overall, the highest qualifying BA in the Texas organization...Garnered NWL mid- and post-season All-Star honors…Named NWL Player of the Week for 7/15-7/21 after going 11-for-25 (.440), including first career multi-HR outing on 7/18 vs. VAN (3-for-4, two HR, four RBI)...His five-hit game on 7/25 at TRI (5-for-6, two doubles) was one of four such outings by an NWL hitter in 2019...Named a Short-A All-Star by Baseball America.
