There is no way to rationalize away his 2007 regular-season failure. He was obtained to be the five-hitter the team so desperately needed, and he put up numbers befitting a routine second baseman, slugging .423 with 11 homers and 64 RBIs. The team did find its No. 5 hitter, but it wasn't J.D. Drew. It turned out to be Mike Lowell.
Drew did draw enough walks (79) to get his on-base percentage up to .373, but that didn't mean anyone wanted to see him up there in any meaningful situation. As the year went on, it became evident the only proper places in the batting order for him were first, eighth, or ninth.
Suffice it to say, he had not become a Fenway favorite. Children all over New England are probably convinced his first name is "Nancy," having heard him incessantly defamed as such by their elders after each soft fly ball, called third strike, or 4-6-3 with men on base.
Thus it was with minimal expectation the 37,163 in attendance, plus the multitudes taking it all in on TVs across this great Red Sox Nation of ours, watched Drew trudge to the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the first inning last night. The inning was on the verge of being a sick disaster. It had begun with great promise, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis reaching via infield hits and David Ortiz drawing a 3-and-2 walk, having never deigned to offer at one of Fausto Carmona's pitches.
Manny Being Manny was up with the sacks filled and none out, and there might have been one or two among the millions of Red Sox fans watching who didn't know that Mr. Ramírez is the champion grand slam master among all living, breathing creatures (with all due respect to the memory of the great Lou Gehrig), but the number of the ignorant had to be in the single figures. Manny hung tough through 2 and 2 and a foul tip, but he whiffed for the first out.
