When he first showed up in Boston, Mike Lowell was nothing more than the alleged sidecar to the Josh Beckett deal. Someone we were taking off the Marlins’ hands to get our mitts on Commander Kickass.
Then, in his first two seasons with us, he belted 41 home runs, knocked in 200 runs and batted .305 with an .847 OPS, earning the booze-inspired nickname “Scenic Lowell” from yours truly. He capped off those two years by winning MVP of the 2007 World Series, and they don’t just hand those awards out at the bus station, Chico. Not unless you’re paying cash.
His hip and various other maladies may have lessened his effectiveness since then, but Mikey’s been a stand-up guy throughout his tenure here; a fine successor in glove and spirit to Gentleman Bill Mueller who previously trolled third base.
Now, the Lowell Era appears to be coming to an end. Reports have Scenic shipping off to Texas in exchange for catcher Max Ramirez. This is, of course, part of Theo’s “If I can’t have Hanley Ramirez, by God, I’ll sign everyone else in baseball named Ramirez” master plan, which just keeps picking up speed.
The Sox will be eating a good chunk of Lowell’s $12 million salary, so John Henry may be forced to order the small fries for at least a couple weeks. The move allows the Sox to pursue a number of options, be it Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre, moving Youk to third and begging for Adrian Gonzalez, using Ramirez behind the plate to get V-Mart some first base time, or just stockpiling more bodies to storm Yankee Stadium, 300-style, on opening day.
Whatever the case, it was nice to know you, Mr. Lowell. We wish you nothing but the best of futures, and will always stand up when you return to Fenway.
