Mike Lowell Wants To Play...Every Day

Mike Lowell, the Boston Red Sox (ex?) third baseman who is recovering from thumb surgery, met with the media yesterday down in Ft. Myers. He had much to say and I thank the Boston Globe's EXTRA BASES for bringing it to my attention. Mike's off season thumb surgery was successful but he still is hobbled by his hip when he runs. All in all, he's in much better shape than he was last year and that's a good thing. Why? The Red Sox will be forced to trade him to another ball cub. You see, he wants to play every day and there is no room for him in the Boston infield. Beltran and Youkilis will be taking care of the infield corners. Big Papi will again be our DH. If Mikey stayed, he would be spending major time warming the bench, something he simply does not want to do. I can't say as I blame him, not one bit. Here he is...

“I think if I was on the trading block before, I can’t imagine that all of a sudden I’m not now."

You are, Mike. It's what YOU want and it's what the club needs to do. As for the fans, he made his feelings perfectly clear...

"I love the fans," he said, saying he has his wife check out what people say on web sites about him. "She says, 'You know how many people are really on your side in all of this? But I don't want to discount the fact that I feel like I've had tremendous support. and I think the fans appreciate the way I played the last four years in Boston. I think they appreciate someone who comes to play every day. I think I showed that I played hurt. That's a good feeling when you have the fans on your side."

We're on your side because we love ya, Mikey. Here's GM Theo Epstein with his summation of the entire enchilada, the whole kitten kaboodle...

“Mike’s intelligent, so he knows the situation,’’ Epstein said. “He knows that coming off last season if we felt like he physically could go out and do the job and be our every-day third baseman that we wouldn’t have made these moves. But we felt like, taking a look at all the factors, that it was something that we had to do for the sake of the team, so we did. The team always comes first. Now trying to put myself in Mike’s shoes, yeah, it’s a tough situation for him, someone who’s always been an every-day player his whole career. But things have changed. We had to take a look at all the factors, the physical capabilities at this point for him to go out and do a job every day and do what’s right for this team. That’s all we did, and he understands that."

Unfotunately, Theo's words make all the sense in the world to me. It's no secret...I love Mikey and cannot imagine the Boston Red Sox without him manning the hot corner and smashing line drives off the Green Monster as only "Mr. Doubles" can do. But what's done is done. Barring a sudden injury (God forbid) to Youk or Beltran, there simply isn't any place for Mike to play on a regular basis. And that's EXACTLY what he wants. I'll miss him but it's all too clear that he'll be gone by the start of the season. Good health, good luck and best wishes to you, Mike Lowell. You gave us SO very much. Thanks.

That's a wrap for this inclement Wednesday. Connecticut is a small state. I, here in north central Connecticut, received a slushy inch of the white stuff, if that. But if one travels 30 (that's it!!) miles to the north and west, you'd encounter about a foot of heavy and wet snow. That's the type of snow that is dangerous to shovel because it's so full of water.

You can click on this post's title for all the Olympic coverage you'd ever need from SI dot com. Thanks for stopping in and as always, BE WELL.