http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/11897658.htm

 

 

Fans have tips for Lowell woes

 

 

Everybody has advice for Mike Lowell this season -- even fans approaching in restaurants.

 

'I've heard . . . `Why don't you hit the ball to right field all the time?' or 'Why don't you take until you get two strikes?' . . . If I listened to every suggestion I got this year, I'd be standing on my head. But it's all because they want me to do better. I don't get upset. Trust me -- I feel their pain much more than they do.''

 

Finally, the Marlins third baseman has shaken free of his slump: He's hitting .364 through 11 games and entered Tuesday at .228. ''If I hit .280 the rest of the year and drive in runs, I'm going to end up .250 and feel good,'' he said this week.

 

In a private moment recently, Lowell spoke candidly about dealing with the worst season-opening stretch of his career. ''There's definitely an embarrassment part of it because I know that's not the player I am,'' he said. He spoke of feeling ''bad for my teammates'' because ``I know they're counting on me and I feel like I [was] letting them down. That's what hurts me.''

 

What helped Lowell cope -- and ultimately rebound -- is he never became an emotional wreck.

 

''I've gone through much tougher things in life than a bad two months,'' said Lowell, who survived testicular cancer. ``That has helped me a lot. Baseball is important . . . but it's about fifth place [behind] my kids, my wife and the health of my family. I'll trade another 0 for 3 to have my grandfather for another four months. [He died two weeks ago.] . . .

 

``It's easy to be the cool guy on the street when you're hitting .320. It makes you a tough mental person when you're not going good and still go about your business the same way.''

 

Lowell -- who says he's ''picking up the ball much better'' -- appreciates encouragement he received from opponents such as Craig Biggio and Dave Roberts.

 

Also, ''the fans have been great with me. I think they appreciate I don't take at-bats off.'' Even though Lowell was struggling, owner Jeffrey Loria invited him to ``to sit next to him on the floor for [Heat-Pistons Game 7]. That's pretty classy.''

 

Still confounding has been the drop in power. His three home runs through Monday put him on pace for eight. Lowell, 31, entered 2005 averaging 25 a year during five previous seasons.

 

The future offers no promises. Lowell is owed $18 million over the final two years of his contract (2006-07). That's steep for a money-losing franchise seeking a new stadium.

 

 

Strange conincidence that he seemed to break out of his slump around the same time as losing his Grandfather. Maybe he has had some divine intervention at the plate or something. It also nice to see that other players on other teams realize that a slump of these epic proportions is horrendous and will offer their condolences.

Well it doesn't go into what his grandfather died with. His grandfather could have been nearing death for quite a while so he was carrying that weight around so when he finally did die that weight was off his shoulders and he picked it up a bit. However, I don't think that weight alone is what has been keeping him down.