If you take the entirety of the Crew's roster and add up the total amount of MLS Cup Playoff appearances, you arrive at the number 20. 14 of those appearances are courtesy of Michael Parkhurst's early-career run with the New England Revolution, with the others split up among Tyson Wahl (2), Hector Jimenez (2), Daniel Paladini (1) and Tony Tchani (1). Many key contributors on this club weren't in MLS during the last time the Crew qualified for November soccer.
Despite the relative inexperience of the squad, there's one member of the Black & Gold who has experienced just about everything that lies ahead.
That's Jimenez, a player who came up with the LA Galaxy during a time when the four-time MLS Cup Champions added numbers three and four to their trophy case.
Jimenez was drafted by LA in the Second Round (34th overall) of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. He joined a side that was coming off of its third Supporters' Shield triumph, a club that boasted David Beckham and Landon Donovan alongside a young Omar Gonzalez, a pre-emergent Mike Magee and a veteran presence in Gregg Berhalter along the backline.
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Although that 2010 Galaxy team finished with the best record in MLS, it suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to FC Dallas in the Western Conference Final. It retooled for 2011 by adding veterans like Juan Pablo Angel and Frankie Hejduk in the offseason, but it made its biggest splash midway through the year by signing Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur, a move that spurred the Galaxy on to the MLS Cup title and another Supporters' Shield.
Although Jimenez, as a rookie, made just two appearances in the regular season and none in the postseason, it was a dream start that he calls one of his best career memories to date, a situation that enabled him to observe and learn alongside true legends of the sport.
"In my first year, I was more of a guy who didn't play much," said Jimenez. "I was on the outside looking in at the stuff that some of the great players were doing. In my second year, I was able to participate a lot more and contribute from the learning experience in my rookie year. Doing things after practice, the little things – small details outside the pitch will always give you an extra confidence booster and help you on the field."
In that second year, the midfielder made 15 appearances for a club that again went on to capture MLS Cup. Notably, Jimenez earned his first bit of postseason action in 2012, starting at rightback against Vancouver in the Knockout Round match. He played one additional season in LA, adding another MLS Cup Playoff appearance in 2013 before being acquired by the Crew prior to this season.
As such, Jimenez is the only playing member of the Black & Gold to have hoisted MLS Cup in his career. While several know the difference between regular season and Playoff soccer first-hand, Jimenez is the one player in the locker room to know the feeling of achieving the ultimate goal.
Not only that, he knows what it's like to play and prepare alongside names among the most iconic in MLS' history: Donovan. Keane. Beckham.
"What I learned the most is that day in and day out, they're coming into training sessions with positivity and leaving it out on the field like it's the last day that they're going to play," said Jimenez. "I just try to have fun. That’s what most of those guys like Landon, Robbie and David will say: it's all about having fun and having relationships with your teammates both on and off the field."
The challenge now for Jimenez is to contribute to a side that is eager to taste that success, to win his third MLS Cup while helping 29 others win their first.
"Everyone's in that excitement type of mood," said Jimenez. "It will be the first Playoff game for a lot of these guys. If I had something to say to them, it would be to take it as any other game. It's what we play for and you just have to enjoy it."
He's eager to get going, to again experience the heightened competition and raised level of play.
"Who wouldn’t want to win an MLS Cup? I was thankful enough that in my first two years, I was able to accomplish that with LA."
For his teammates. For Columbus.
