Need a reminder that baseball is an incredibly difficult game? Probably not, but if we do, Allen Craig is here as the latest bit of "evidence." The Red Sox demoted Craig to Triple-A Sunday, the culmination of a rather remarkable rise and fall within just a few seasons.

How did we get here? Let's timeline it (yes, timeline is a verb there -- just for fun).

2011

In his age-26 season, Craig was one of the best bench-utility guys in the majors. He hit .315/.362/.555 with 15 doubles and 11 homers in just 219 plate appearances. Defensively, he saw action at first, second, third, left, right and center.

The playoffs were his real coming out party, though.

In Game 2 of the NLDS, Craig led off the seventh inning with the game tied. He tripled and then scored the eventual game-winning run. He'd go 3-for-8 with a homer and three RBI in the NLCS.

In the World Series, Craig really announced his presence with authority.

In Game 1, his pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth was the eventual game-winner. In Game 2, he broke a scoreless tie with a pinch-hit RBI single. The rest of the way, he'd hit three homers, including a go-ahead shot in Game 7. Oh, and he also did this in Game 7:

2012

Now mostly a full-time player, Craig showed 2011 was no fluke, hitting .307/.354/.522 with 35 doubles, 22 homers and 97 RBI. He again had some big postseason moments, such as getting a fourth-inning rally going with an RBI double in the wild-card game or having a huge series against the Nationals in the NLDS.

2013

Now an established star, Craig made the All-Star Game and got some MVP votes. He hit .315/.373/.457 with 97 RBI. He became known even more for his clutch-hitting prowess on the coattails of those two big previous postseasons. This time around, Craig hit .454/.500/.638 with runners in scoring position and .378/.432/.532 with men on base. With runners in scoring position and two out, Craig hit .448/.529/.672. He was a veritable machine when it mattered most.

A foot injury slowed Craig down the stretch and, as the Cardinals headed to the World Series, one of the biggest storylines for the Fall Classic was his availability. He missed each of the first two postseason series.

Craig would serve as DH in Boston. Though he could barely run, he did pick up hits in each of the first two games of the series. He was forced to pinch hit in Game 3 -- since it was in St. Louis and he couldn't play the field -- and had a pinch-hit double with a tie game in the ninth. He'd then score to win it on this memorable play:

2014

Again hampered by injuries, Craig began to fall apart. He'd hit just .237/.291/.346 with the Cardinals until he was traded to Boston in late July. He was even worse for the Red Sox, hitting .128/.234/.191. He didn't even have a home, either, with first base and DH spots being taken on a regular basis.

2015

Through 59 plate appearances in 24 games, Craig hit .135/.237/.192. Again, there's no real spot for regular playing time and Craig is doing nothing to show he deserves it. He would be trade bait, but how much value does he have at this point? It doesn't appear to be much, and he'll attempt to sort things out in the minors.

Allen Craig was once a World Series hero, now at age 30 he's in the minors.
Allen Craig was once a World Series hero, now at age 30 he's in the minors. (USATSI)

Allen Craig is 30 years old. All of the above took place during what should be his prime years. Some of them were, of course, but he seemingly completely forgot how to play productive baseball after that lisfranc foot injury. This after being a late bloomer at the big-league level, finally coming into his own as a regular at age 27.

Take note of the age and it's easy to see that Craig could well return to form, but obviously nothing is guaranteed. This is a pretty hard game, after all. This is but our latest reminder.