One of the things that really bothered me about the 2008 postseason – besides Craig Sager’s hideous outfits, Frank TV commercials, and of course losing to the Rays – was just how close the Sox were to another World Series. All of the injuries and turmoil (Manny, Tek’s divorce, Manny) of the regular season behind them, the team pushed the Rays to a game seven, after falling behind three games to one. I contend that Mike Lowell playing third and a healthy Papi would have put the team over the top. Are you telling me those guys couldn’t have plated a couple of runs in game two or game seven?
Bad news for the Rays, the Yanks and most AL pitchers: Lowell and Ortiz are back. Spring training is spring training, but the numbers are good for both players. Both have 34 at-bats: Papi is batting .294 with three homers and 10 RBI and Lowell is batting .265 with three homers and four RBI. Using my elite Malden High education (and the built in calculator found on most computers) I’ve projected those numbers out for an entire season. And they kick ass. It works out to they hit 50+ homers each, drive in 350 runs between them and have batting averages of 4,376.902. I did it twice, it’s right.
We all know spring training numbers mean jack-shite once the real season starts. You don’t have to look any further than Tek’s .261 average, four homers and team-leading 15 RBI to know that’s a fact. But the point is Ortiz and Lowell are healthy. And we like it that way.
