Mike Lowell

Big Sloppy continues to take late swings on bad balls that make him look older and slower than dear Mike Lowell, with his salt and pepper hair and surgically repaired hip. I'm not going to say Lowell would have drawn a walk in Ortiz's place, the way he did in Toronto...that's for the Baseball Gods to decide. No, I will say that if Lowell did strike out, he still wouldn't look as bad as Ortiz did.

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t it’s not good news either. 

Now here’s something we can worry about – Mike Lowell was placed on the 15 day DL earlier today.  All throughout the season it’s been evident that he’s been hurting.  It seems every time he hits a groundball to the infield, he’s nowhere near first base when the ball gets there.  That being said, he still seemed to be moving around third base okay, and was putting up decent numbers (.282, 10 HR, 41 RBI).  I hope that this is just a 15 day thing, and not a 45 day thing.  Keep your fingers crossed.  The only good news of this is that Jeff Bailey will be taking Lowell’s spot on the roster.  I like Bailey.  We might even get to see him hit a dinger or two before he has to go back down, again.  I’m sure he’s thrilled to be back up in Boston. 

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ning hits that got the Sox back where the needed to be.   However both Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell were hitless the entire game and yet were able to contribute to the rally.  Dustin earned a walk after ten pitches, and

Continue reading "“Go Crazy Folks, The Red Sox Win This One!”"

Mikey is back and looks good – Mike Lowell was in the lineup last night against the Yankees, holding down the four spot in between Ortiz and Drew.  That is a pretty solid 3-4-5 if you ask me.  Mikey had his first fielding opportunity of the spring in the first inning which turned into an inning-ending double play.  He then led off in the second inning and took a high fastball from Chien-Ming Wang deep over the left field fence for a solo shot.  Lowell hit a single later in the same inning as the Sox batted through the lineup and tallied 7 runs. 

Continue reading "A Few Sox Saturday Updates"

be interesting to see whether or not Ortiz will be the one we saw last season or the 2007 version. Mike Lowell is also returning from injury, a true warrior, whopushed himself beyond limits during last year's playoffs. Both men have much to prove as the Fenway Faithful wait with baited breath. (Note: I'd write on Tek here but read my previous article for more information.)

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It is time for the Boston Red Sox to move on from Mike Lowell. The 2004 World Series MVP has performed greatly for the Sox in his three seasons with the team amassing 58 HRs, 273 RBI and a batting average of .297 in that time. He has played gold glove caliber third base, as was expected when he was acquired as a throw in as a part of the trade that brought Josh Beckett to Boston. His offense has been much better than expected considering his poor showing in 2005 (.236 AVG., 8 HRs, 58 RBI) the season before he was shipped off to Boston. He was an all-star and was the MVP of the World Series in 2007. With all of these recent accomplishments, why should the Red Sox move on? The answer is Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis. With Teixeira available on the free agent market, the Red Sox need to look at their corner infielders and decide if it is worth signing Teixeira. If you compare Youkilis and Lowell, Youkilis wins because of his versatility and youth. Their offensive numbers over the past three seasons are extremely close. Lowell hit .297 with 58 HRs and 273 RBI while Youkilis hit .293 with 58 HRs and 270 RBI. With the offense being a toss up with Lowell receiving a slight edge, we must look at the defensive side of the game. I believe the edge goes to Youkilis here. They have both played tremendous defense, but Youkilis has been better. Over the past three seasons, Youkilis has committed 18 errors at first base and third base combined and he won a gold glove in 2007 while Lowell has committed 31 errors at third base. 2007 and 2008 were the worst defensive seasons of Lowell’s career with 15 errors and 10 errors respectively. Lowell’s numbers at third base are better than Youkilis’ numbers at the hot corner, but the difference is not great enough to overcome the age difference (Lowell is 34, Youkilis is 29) or the versatility difference (Lowell can only play third at this point of his career while Youkilis can play first, third, left field, and right field if necessary). Taking all of this into consideration, if you have to move on from one of these guys, it seems quite obvious that you keep Youkilis and move Lowell. What about Teixeira? Is he really going to be an upgrade over Lowell? The short answer is yes. Mark Teixeira is only 28 years old and the offensive numbers aren’t even close. Over the past three seasons Teixeira has hit .298 with 96 HRs and 336 RBI. These offensive numbers far out way the production of Lowell over the same time span. Teixeira has been superior to Lowell defensively as well. Remember Lowell’s 31 errors since 2006? Teixeira has only committed 14 in that time span and he won a gold glove in 2006. Another reason the Red Sox will explore this avenue is the fact that

Continue reading "Adios To Mike Lowell"

- even though you'll probably have to eat a huge chunk of his contract, a la Renteria, or as in the Mike Lowell scenario, for that matter - and sign a legit slugger to play right.

Here's the funny thing: This idea is immediately rejected as unfathomable. Why? I honestly don't get it. Trading Lowell seems a choice everyone in the media can wrap their brains around, but trading Drew isn't an option. How come? If they sign Teixeria and dump Lowell, they're trading away a well-paid veteran to create space for someone else. Getting rid of Drew seems the exact same move, to me.

Continue reading "Warming up the hot stove"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

out to enter the postseason with JD Drew having four more at-bats than me since mid-August and with Mike Lowell looking like he needs a walker to get around, not to mention with Josh Beckett battling what can become one of the most nagging and lingering injuries in sports (the dreaded oblique). And yet my feelings of doom are assuaged slightly by the fact that the big man has been tearing the cover off the ball lately.

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The strikeout was his 73rd in 65 innings this season.

Mike Lowell is still battling problems with his hip. He will likely miss this entire series against Toronto and possibly some games in the Cleveland series. The Red Sox, who are closing in on the playoffs, are likely just resting Lowell to be safe so the 2007 World Series MVP

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/19"

They had four runs in the first, off of homeruns from David Ortiz and Mike Lowell. After getting seven more in the fourth, including homeruns from Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Varitek, they had a commanding 11-1 lead that they would not give back.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/15"

The Red Sox have been gaining major ground on the Rays in the recent week or so, but there is one thing that they haven't done in around 3 months and that is actually win a game against the team they were chasing, the Tampa Bay Rays. After being swept in the Trop in Tampa in early July, the Sox have had to wait 2 months to get revenge, but their meeting with the Rays, who have lead the division almost every day since their last meeting, couldn't have come at a better time or in a better place. The Red Sox have the momentum coming into the series, having gained 4 games in the standings over the last 6 games, setting them in a position where they could overtake the Rays with a sweep, and the have the homefield. The Red Sox have won all 6 of the meetings between them and the Rays in Fenway, which is where this game would be played in front of their new Major League record 456th straight sellout crowd.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/8"

ee games, 8 of which were scored in our loss last Saturday.  Keep it up boys, keep it up!

-Mike Lowell: As mentioned above, Lowell had a game after coming off the DL.  He went 3-5

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kett (12-9) scheduled for the Sox against the Rays' Andy Sonnanstine (13-7).

As for injuries, the Mike Lowell, did not play tonight but it is currently unknown if that had anything to do with

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/7"

Helping the cause is the return of Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett. Lowell started at 3rd for the first time in over 3 weeks and Beckett made his first start since his return from the DL as well.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/5"

 

Not only is Beckett returning from injury to go for the Sox tomorrow, Mike Lowell is also expected to be back in the lineup after missing 19 games. MVP Candidate Kevin Youkilis is expected to be back after missing 4 of the last 5 games with combinations of the stomach flu and back spasms. Youkilis has not played since Monday but with the off day today, he should be good to go in Texas. Both JD Drew and possibly Julio Lugo, who has been out since the All-Star break, are expected to be back within a couple of weeks. Bartolo Colon is expected back soon as well to help in either the rotation or the bullpen.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/4"

team over the past few weeks as the Red Sox were without three of their biggest bats in the lineup, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, and JD Drew once again in tonight’s game. Recent acquisition Mark Kotsay filled in for Kevin Youkilis at first. Rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie played third base once again in place of Lowell, while utility man Alex Cora played in place of Lowrie at short. Coco Crisp filled in for Drew in the outfield. However, injuries are excuses, and their injuries are not an excuse for the fact that after 6 innings of play, the Red Sox were losing 4-0.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/3"

 Let’s try not to repeat that tonight. 

-Mike Lowell:  Lowell says he might be able to play next weekend against Texas, according to redsox.com.  This would be great, but all things considered I wouldn’t expect to see him play for another week after that. 

Continue reading "Last night no good for Sox"

- Jacoby Ellsbury
2B - Dustin Pedroia
DH - David Ortiz
LF - Manny Ramirez
3B - Mike Lowell
RF - JD Drew
1B - Kevin Youkilis
C - Jason Varitek
SS - Julio Lugo

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So my name is Becky and I'm a huge Red Sox Fan.  And no...I'm not a pink hat.  Anyway, this is my first blog of any kind so bear with me.  Now let's get to the sox!!  So last night they had a great win against the Baltimore Orioles.....in Baltimore I might add.  They seem to be doing better on the road. (I should know I was at the Blue Jays game on the 16th...and they stunk up the place.....fortunately not as bad as they did the next day)  So last night we had a solo home run from our captain Mr. Jason Varitek!  Finally!!  I'm so happy for him.  We all know our captain has been obviously struggeling at the plate.  Now we might know the reason...divorce?  Poor Jason...yet he will prevail!  Anyway, hopefully they pull out another win tonight, even without one of my faves...Mikey Lowell and new hardhitter...JD Drew.  Heal up fast guys!  We need you!!

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much as anyone that we complete the sweep tonight!

Keep the faith!

Post game notes:

-Mike Lowell:  Lowell, as expected, was placed on the 15 day DL.  As I mentioned before, I can’t wait til he’s healthy again, but in the mean time I’m happy that we have Sean Casey. 

Continue reading "Sox offense continues to heat up!"

Bad news, Sox fans. Our beloved Mike Lowell has been put on the 15 day DL due to a strained oblique.

If I hear from one more person that he should man up and tough it out, I'm going to flip. Not sure if any of you have ever had a strained oblique, but it's as fun as accidentally lighting yourself on fire. PS - that's not fun. Think of how much you do with your core. Posture. Move. Breathe. Laugh. All of that hurts, and hurts bad, when you strain your oblique. It's one of those things that the only solution is alternating ice and heat while watching Seinfeld reruns on the couch. Most heal from it in two to four weeks, bringing Mr. Lowell's return to anywhere from the beginning to the middle of September.

Continue reading "Let's play "Good news. Bad news.""

d), 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.  Let’s just hope this doesn’t happen again. 

-Mike Lowell:  In the bottom of the 7th, Lowell appeared to be in some pain after fouling

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nagement usually does and that is sign players that are, at most, 33 and that is the exception with Mike Lowell in the off-season.     

I am against this trade but I

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lthough yesterday was very frustrating, I’ll tell you what wasn’t frustrating: Watching Mike Lowell hit that three-run shot in the 1st was such a great thing to see.  It was nice to see that after hearing about all the injuries during the pregame.  It was nice to see that because you knew the Sox were gonna need to get a lot of runs on the board.  But most importantly, it was great to see

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5) Lowell 3B

6) Bay LF

7) Lowrie SS

8) Varitek C

9) Ellsbury CF

Post game notes: 

-Mike Lowell:  Lowell is back in tonight's lineup after getting a shot in his hip yesterday.  Lowell said he woke this morning with no pain.  The NESN pregame folks (Tappyn, Macha) said that the shot is supposed to take a few days to work, so let's not expect a 4-4 night from Lowell.  

Continue reading "Ortiz's wrist "clicking" - nothing serious"

Bradford wrote a biography about Mike Lowell, Buckley wrote some sort of memoir of classic stories around the park, and Massarotti, Shaughnessy and Holley "chronicled" seasons after their completion. Forgive me for being cynical, but isn't their job to chronical the season. Seems like some cheap double-dipping to me. And the fact that all these books hit the shelves less than eight months after the Sox wrapped up a championship says plenty about the thorough effort put into each one.

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gement like to keep their team young and do not like to keep re-signing guys who are older than 33 (Mike Lowell was the exception).  The Red Sox could get a lot of great prospects and some relievers for the left-fielder.  The only thing that could possibly go wrong with the trade is if the only teams interested in the slugger is an American League opponent (I.E. Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, etc.). 

Continue reading "Is it a bad thing to trade Mr. Ramirez?"

nding him argument holds less water than a sieve.  As good as Ortiz, Trot Nixon, Johnny Damon, Mike Lowell and Manny's other Red Sox teammates are or have been, the group of guys surrounding A-Rod (Jeter, Matsui, Giambi, Damon, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu) is just as good if not better than Manny's supporting cast.

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He plucked David Ortiz from the Twins, filled third base with Bill Mueller and Mike Lowell (two of the classiest dudes ever to wear a Sox uniform), and stocked the pitching staff with young arms. He also traded for Curt Schilling and built two World Series winners. But for whatever reason Epstein keeps coming up with an E-6.

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So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

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Boston, perhaps fired up by fizzling the Yankees’ rally, scored in the top of the fifth on Mike Lowell’s three-run shot, bringing the score to 6-3. And the Yankees failed to bring in runners again in the seventh, with two on and no out. Brett Gardner, the recent callup who replaced Damon, grounded out to second, but brought Melky Cabrera to third. After Jeter walked to load the bases, Bobby Abreu popped out to first, and A-Rod grounded out to second to end the inning.

Continue reading "More Bad Yankee Luck"

Sox just went off for four runs against Houston, highlighted by back-to-back doubles from Manny and Mike Lowell. Good to see for Manny, he's been struggling mightily lately. I find Manny to be a confusing player sometimes - when he gets hot, it's absolutely rediculous - he hits everything, and he hits it to any part of the park. But when he gets cold sometimes he looks like a little leaguer. I mean there are times when he just flails. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's pretty puzzling. Still, there's no doubt he's one of the best right-handed hitters of his generation. Maybe tonight's rocket of a double is a sign of good things to come.

Continue reading "Channeling Chris Sabo"

or today's 2nd game against the D-backs.It was during warmups before the top of the 5th inning that Mike Lowell tossed Youk a routine grounder.  Unfortunately last night was not routine an

Continue reading "Could Youk Have Made the Difference?"

mp with a 2-out ground rule double in the 8th inning followed by single from both Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell.

The Red Sox now find themselves with the 3rd best record in baseball, trailing behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays & the Florida Marlins, respectively. Since when did the sunshine state start producing not one but two good baseball teams??

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omething surprising - they walked Manny Ramirez - intentionally.  So, the bases are loaded and Mike Lowell steps to the plate.  Gobble throws the first pitch high for a ball.  Th

Continue reading "Somehow Dice-K Goes 8-0"

This afternoon's slugfest rang up a combined 19 runs scored, 27 hits and 1 error with JD Drew & Mike Lowell both hitting grand slams.  Bill Buckner & Tony Armas were the last two Sox to hit 2 grand slams at Fenway on August 7, 1984. Youkilis moved into the #3 spot for AL league leading hitters at 320.

Continue reading "Slugfest at Fenway!"

a losing streak. It is still April and the Sox have been the walking wounded with David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and Daisuke Matsuzaka out with injuries. These injuries will pass just like the Old Towne Team's losing streak. Let's be patient and not worry just yet

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performance against the Rangers.

In reality, this debate will be at least partially silenced when Mike Lowell comes off the disabled list and returns to the lineup. Lowrie will then be sent b

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edroia is also beginning to sting the ball around the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

Take heart Sox fans, Ortiz (who is hitting .188) and Mike Lowell (.133), last season’s leading run producers, will not finish the season batting below .200.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox hitters were victimized by a travel schedule that saw them go from Florida to Japan to Los Angeles to Oakland in the course of two weeks. While every other Major League club was still in the midst of Spring Training, Boston and Oakland had to travel to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to play two official games a week before anyone else did. To say either team looked rusty would be an understatement. To make matters worse, instead of being able to assume a normal routine, the teams then had to turn around and fly back to the United States and play more exhibition games before meeting up again in Oakland to complete a four game series.

Continue reading "Red Sox Hitters Just Need to Find Their Rhythm"

With all indications that the Boston Red Sox will hit the field in 2008 with the exact same lineup as they did last October, I thought I'd take a look at that 2007 team and see just what the package consisted of.

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The Sox are looking to bolster their bench with a powerful left-handed bat.  One rumor floating around is that Tony Clark is looking for a home and he seems to be out looking to put on some Red S

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