FORT MYERS, Fla. - Mike Lowell turned 35 yesterday and he was able to practice playing baseball. Not bad for a guy who looked like he was 135 years old last time we saw him on a ball field.
Lowell was playing with a partially torn labrum in his right hip at the end of the 2008 season and it was hard to watch. There were times when he looked as if he needed a cane. Or a wheelchair. Young Benjamin Button had more lateral mobility than old Mike Lowell.
The ball seemed to keep finding his weak spot. Rival batters would hit screamers down the third base line and Lowell would be forced to dive to his right. It was awful. I kept thinking about Bo Jackson. Bo was one of the most gifted athletes of the 20th century, but it was a hip injury that took him out of first football, then baseball. We never saw him again.
Lowell struggled to stay on the field in the first round of the playoffs even though it was pretty clear he belonged in the hospital. He went 0 for 8 in two games against the Angels, and that was it.
There would be no more baseball for the 2007 World Series MVP. Lowell watched the ALCS from the sideline and underwent surgery in late October.
"I was taking pain medication just to be able to be on the field," he said. "I was putting the 8-ball behind myself because I still wanted to play.
"In my first [playoff] at-bat off John Lackey, I lined out to left, so I thought I was pretty good. But everything was just a click slow. They told me the medication might slow me down.
"I really didn't have it playing defense. I knew when [Mark] Teixeira hit the ball by me that it was a ball I should get. I just didn't have the quick first step, which is vital to play third.
"When my labrum tore, I guess it rolled up into the joint. It's not hanging onto anything. The labrum took away a piece of the bone and every time I ran, my femur pushed it further into the joint. When I would swing it was OK, but when I'd check my swing, it would grind into the bone. That's when I felt the sharp pain and got the flareups. And I couldn't extend my legs to run."
Doctors shaved part of Lowell's femur when they repaired the labrum.
While Lowell was recovering from surgery and beginning his rehab, the Red Sox engaged in a very public pursuit of Teixeira, who had become a free agent. You didn't need Bill James or Peter Gammons to tell you what that meant. The offseason blueprint called for the Sox to sign Teixeira, move Kevin Youkilis to third, and find a team willing to take Lowell in a trade.
Philadelphia was considered a logical destination for Lowell. The Phillies showed interest in the winter of 2007-08, when Lowell wound up signing a three-year deal with the Sox for $37.5 million.
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