Lowell all class, priorities straight despite life in limbo

Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell:
the very picture of
class and perspective
(MLB)

Red Sox third-baseman-in-limbo Mike Lowell met the media today to talk about his unsettled situation, and by all accounts, the man did nothing but impress with his class, professionalism, and knowledge of what’s really important.

 

Lowell may have been forgiven for exhibiting frustration, resentment, or even anger about the club’s ill-fated effort to trade him to the Rangers and its subsequent signing of former Mariner Adrian Beltre to man the hot corner. Instead, he calmly expressed acceptance of these hard truths, confidence in his ability to perform well in 2010, and great wisdom in terms of what’s really important. Here’s a representative sampling of his comments:

 

- “I think I'm pretty intelligent in the sense that there's no real playing time for me here barring a major injury, and I'm not really in the business of hoping somebody gets hurt just so I can get at-bats. For me, I'm feeling like I'm more prepared and ready for a full season more than I was last year. So why shouldn't I play more than I did last year, whether it's here or somewhere else? I can't control that.”

 

- “I’m actually excited. This might seem awkward baseball-wise, but I actually enjoy being on the field and seeing all the guys I haven’t seen. I had dinner with Jacoby and Pedroia yesterday. I like that aspect.”

 

- “I have to separate two things, I think there's the baseball aspect of it and I think there's the real-life aspect of it. I'm very comfortable in where I am in my real life. I feel like I'm in a tremendously privileged situation. No one needs to feel sorry for me in life. Is my baseball situation not ideal? It's not ideal. I don't want to diminish the baseball fact, but you never know what can happen. When I left the Marlins I was disappointed and it turned out to be a really good transition for me. We'll see. You never know what's going to happen."

 

This clearly is a man who has his head on straight and is precisely who you crave on a ballclub. (For contrast, see Bradley, Milton.) Too bad the realities of roster-building leave no room for him here – and thank goodness the Sox have a leadership team who can handle the heart/head conflict.

 

Unless Beltre hits a buck-fifty and Lowell is World Series MVP for someone else, in which case we’ll bring to mind legendary Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel and say, “Why can’t we get guys like that?”