Crystl Irene Bustos (born September 8, 1977), also known as The Big Bruiser, is an American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player at the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

position although on the roster she is a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. She is a two-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medalist. She holds the world record for home runs during an Olympic series, with six.

Career

Bustos, a Mexican American, was born in

Canyon Country, California Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and the San Gabriel Mount ...

(currently a part of

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...

). She began her career playing softball at Canyon Country Little League and attended

Palm Beach Community College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 27,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associa ...

. She is a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic softball team, which won the silver medal after losing to Japan in the gold-medal game, the first loss for the U.S. women in 23 straight Olympic games. Her accomplishments also include two World Cup Championships (2006 and 2007), three

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

gold medals (1999, 2003 and 2007), and a gold medal at the

2006 ISF World Championship The 2006 ISF Women's World Championship was held from August 27 to September 5, 2006 in Beijing, China. For the sixth consecutive time, the team from the United States won the title, with a 3-0 victory over Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , ...

s. She has also played for the NPF

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

, and was the Most Valuable Player in the WPSL for the Orlando Wahoos in 1998. Bustos announced that she would retire from international competition after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bustos was named 2008 USA Softball Player of the Year. She became the field manager for the

in October 2009, but elected to return to the playing field for the Racers in 2010.

Statistics

References

External links

Crystl Bustos
at SoftballPerformance.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bustos, Crystl 1977 births Softball players from California American sportspeople of Mexican descent Living people Olympic gold medalists for the United States in softball Olympic silver medalists for the United States in softball Olympic softball players of the United States Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Softball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Palm Beach State Panthers softball players Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States People from Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California Pan American Games medalists in softball Akron Racers players Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games