Crews, Olin Eulogized at a Memorial Service

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — They came from all over the state and points beyond, including Kirk Gibson, Sparky Anderson, Don Fehr and Gene Michael.

The Dodgers sent two busloads, carrying almost their entire team. All of the Cleveland Indians were there.

They came to grieve collectively, but each with a different intensity. Some hoped Wednesday night’s memorial service would put an end to the emotion they have felt over the tragic death of Tim Crews and Steve Olin. Others came to share their love with Laurie Crews and Patti Olin, who sat together, and, at times during the service, rocked back and forth hugging each other.

But seemingly everyone had come hoping to find some comfort over the question that haunts death.

“If we are honest, we have to admit that we came here today with a question, one that bothers us a great deal, and that question is why, why did this happen, why did God let this happen?” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said, addressing a crowd of about 500.

“Yet, even if we ask, we know we won’t receive the answer, any more than Job got an answer when he questioned God. It seems that God doesn’t spend time explaining.”

The service was held in a theater at Chain O’Lakes Park, where Cleveland moved its camp after Hurricane Andrew ripped apart its spring training facility last year in Homestead, Fla. Monday night, the team lost two pitchers and another was injured. Olin, 27, was killed instantly and Crews, 31, died within hours after Crews’ boat hit a dock on a small lake that borders his house. Bob Ojeda was the only passenger to survive. He is in good condition but remains hospitalized.

Lasorda was asked to speak by Laurie Crews, and he did so in a somber speech that emphasized the love of God. He had few anecdotes, and even read in part from a prepared text. Crews had played for Lasorda for six seasons, and Lasorda is very close to Crews’ son, 5-year-old Shawn.

The lighting at the service was subdued, but the stage was lit enough to show enlarged photographs of Olin and Crews in Cleveland uniforms, each one placed to the side of a simple wood cross.

John Hart, Cleveland’s general manager, was one of four club officials to speak.

“Steve came out of Portland State as a 16th-round draft pick, an afterthought, and Timmy was a secondary draft pick with the Milwaukee Brewers,” Hart said. “It was big news to their families, but to the people in baseball these guys were not superstars, they never had the notoriety. But they got in, and once they did, they kicked the door in, night in and night out. When people wanted to write them off, they never allowed themselves to be written off.”

After spending six seasons in the Brewers’ organization, Crews got a break when he was traded to the Dodgers before the 1987 season. Shortly after, he made the club. But before that, Crews paid his dues, taking odd jobs in the off-season, such as digging sand traps at a golf course. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Crews and his wife even lived in a tent for six weeks.

“The say you can tell the character of a man by who attends his funeral,” Lasorda said. “I don’t think there is any doubt as to the character of either Tim or Steve.”

No players spoke during the service, which lasted about 1 1/2 hours and ended with a tape of a Garth Brooks’ song, “The Dance.” Players and club officials spent about an hour after the service consoling one another.

Earlier in the day, a few Cleveland pitchers talked about their teammates in an emotional news conference at the Indians’ camp. Kevin Wickander, Olin’s best friend on the team, talked about how hard it was when he picked up Olin’s parents from the airport, saying it was almost as hard as when he cleaned out Olin’s locker. Olin was the best man in Wickander’s wedding.

Wickander said he had also been invited to Crews’ house on Monday for a barbecue and fishing. He didn’t go.

Lying in the South County Memorial Hospital about 40 miles from the service, Ojeda is also struggling with the tragedy. His wife, Ellen, has restricted visitors, making a list that includes Ojeda’s former New York Met teammates Sid Fernandez and John Franco and Dodgers Roger McDowell and Kip Gross. Barry Lyons saw Ojeda on Wednesday afternoon.

Ojeda also has to deal with state investigators who are trying to figure out why the accident occurred. Tuesday night, Ojeda told the Florida Fresh Water Fish and Game Commission that after the barbecue he and the other two players went fishing and made several trips around the lake waiting for a friend, Perry Brigmond, to arrive. Ojeda said he did not see the dock and did not know what happened. They had not fished.

Meanwhile, medical examiners were busy Wednesday fielding calls about a report on Orlando television stations that one of the players, who was not identified, had an alcohol level of .17. In Florida, .10 is considered legally drunk. Both county medical examiners involved denied the report of .17, saying they don’t have the results on Olin or Crews, and, in the case of Crews, hadn’t even sent away for the results.

But the commission also sends specimens out for toxicology tests. Those tests, conducted by the Florida Law Enforcement Agency, included testing for Bob Ojeda as well as Crews and Olin. The commission said they would not release any results until their investigation is complete in about two weeks.

Lt. Vinard Hitt said there were more than 1,100 boating accidents in the state last year and 79 deaths.