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3B Lowell is Marlins? big fish

 

?He actually puts fear in some of the pitchers?

 

By Scott Brown

The News-Press sports bureau

Published by news-press.com on August 27, 2003

 

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LOWELL

? The Yankees traded him for pitchers Ed Yarnall, Mark Johnson and Todd Noel on Feb 1, 1999. It may be the worst trade New York has made since it started its championship run in 1996, as none of the three prospects the Marlins dealt for Lowell have panned out.

? Lowell is not just one of the Marlins? most marketable players because he grew up in South Florida. His heritage ? he is Cuban-American ? makes him popular in an area with a large Cuban population.

? He and his wife, Betica, have a daughter, Alexis Ileana, who turns 2 on Sept. 2.

? Lowell hosts the annual Mike Lowell Foundation Golf Classic, which raises money for League Against Cancer, as well as local sports programs.

 

MIAMI

 

The best Mike Lowell hoped for is that his breakout season would merely come to an end.

 

The worst, well only Lowell knows what went on deep in the recesses of his mind. Like how scared one of the most feared hitters in the National League ? and a celebrated cancer survivor ? felt when it looked like the dreaded disease had returned.

 

Put it this way, it made the five-hour drive to see a tumor specialist in Gainesville seem a whole lot longer.

 

?I think that?s an understatement,? Lowell said.

 

To say the Marlins third baseman is having a good year would also be an understatement.

 

A suspected growth near his groin turned out to be harmless. Meanwhile, Lowell has blossomed into a premier power hitter and has been a driving force behind Florida?s surprising push for a National League wild-card berth.

 

Lowell has 32 home runs and 105 RBI, leaving him within striking distance of the Marlins? single-season record for home runs (42 by Gary Sheffield) and RBI (121 by Preston Wilson).

 

The 29-year-old already has smashed his previous career high for home runs in a season (24), and he recently became the first player in Marlins history to record multiple 100-RBI seasons.

 

?He actually puts fear in some of the pitchers,? said leadoff hitter Juan Pierre, who has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Lowell?s power surge. ?Me and Louie (second baseman Louis Castillo), they might not want to pitch to us, but they don?t fear us hitting a home run, and he gives us that.?

 

That is the one thing Florida supposedly lacked coming into the season.

 

But Lowell?s emergence has given the Marlins a big bat in the middle of the lineup. And it is the main reason why, this side of Dontrelle Willis, Florida is in a pennant race.

 

Long road to success

 

Not that it has been easy for Lowell.

 

He was only a 20th-round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1995. After he became a highly regarded prospect, the Yankees traded him to the rebuilding Marlins in February of 1999.

 

And Florida?s third baseman of the future promptly got diagnosed with testicular cancer.

 

That caused him to miss the first two months of the season and led to who knows how many sleepless nights.

 

?To see him go through that, and he?s gotten better and better and better and now he?s right there on the doorstep to being one of the best players in the game,? said Marlins closer Braden Looper, who arrived in Florida at the end of 1998. ?It?s fun to watch, and it couldn?t happen to a better person.?

 

Just don?t ask Lowell to explain why he is hitting like Mike Schmidt after averaging just over 20 home runs a year during his first three full seasons.

 

?The smart comment is the ball?s going over the fence more often, but nothing mechanical,? he said. ?I can?t tell you it?s this or that. I really don?t want to figure it out either.?

 

Lowell did tweak his offseason program a bit.

 

He added more running and agility drills that no doubt helped his flexibility. The sturdy slugger also lost five pounds, even though he also lifted weights during the offseason.

 

Still, few could have foreseen Lowell developing into the kind of player capable of carrying a team. If Lowell hadn?t made that leap, he probably wouldn?t be playing for Florida right now.

 

Lowell makes $3.7 million and is arbitration-eligible at the end of the season. It made sense, then, that when Florida floundered in April and the early part of May, Lowell?s name popped up in one trade rumor after another.

 

Even Lowell, who grew up in South Florida and attended Florida International University, wondered if his days as a Marlin were numbered.

 

?One rumor can come out of nowhere, but not seven,? said Lowell, whom the Cubs reportedly coveted before trading for Aramis Ramirez. ?I figured there were definite talks, and I was realistic to the fact that it was a possibility. But I didn?t have any control over it, and I just took it as that.?

 

Lowell played so well despite the distractions that the Marlins had little choice but to pull him off the trading block.

 

Especially when they started winning.

 

A major scare

 

Like those trade rumors, Lowell didn?t have any control over what an MRI revealed not long after he had played in his second consecutive All-Star game.

 

But he couldn?t just shrug his shoulders when team doctor Dr. Dan Kanell feared a black spot on the MRI might be a tumor.

 

Lowell, who had gotten the MRI because of persistent soreness in his groin, figured the best-case scenario was this: the tumor would be benign and he would have it removed in surgery. That would end his season but spare him radiation or chemotherapy.

 

Worst-case scenario: he would have to fight for his life for the second time in five years.

 

?It rehashed all of the stuff I went though in ?99,? Lowell said, ?and I really wasn?t excited to go through that.?

 

He was overjoyed, however, when the black mark on the MRI turned out to be a freckle, not a tumor. A specialist in Gainesville determined this after a battery of tests and told Lowell the freckle was something he could have had since he was a 5-year-old.

 

He presumably told Lowell this after the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder had stopped jumping up and down for joy.

 

Lowell?s teammates were just as exited about the news.

 

And not just because they know how much Lowell means to the Marlins.

 

?That?s a little bit more important than baseball and what could have happened to him,? Looper said. ?Seasons are so long, you need good stories like a Dontrelle to pick you up and Mike Lowell being OK.?

 

The future

 

Lowell is more than OK these days.

 

He is an emerging star ? if he hasn?t already arrived ? playing in his first pennant race.

 

In the area he grew up, no less.

 

He won?t celebrate his 30th birthday until February, but Lowell is an elder statesman in the Marlins clubhouse and one of Florida?s most respected players.

 

No wonder Pierre, who has a locker next to Lowell at Pro Player Stadium, is always asking him for advice.

 

?Anything from where to go to eat to how a guy is going to pitch you, he knows,? said Pierre, who leads the majors with 57 stolen bases. ?So he?s a real bonus in the clubhouse.?

 

How long he?ll be in Florida?s clubhouse remains to be seen.

 

Considering that Scott Rolen makes $7.63 million and Troy Glaus is pulling in $7.25 million this season, Lowell figures to get at least a $2 million raise via arbitration.

 

Whatever happens, the Marlins will have to decide if they can afford Lowell. One thing that may make them think long and hard about that is they have a possible replacement in Miguel Cabrera.

 

The 20-year-old rookie has played well in left field for the Marlins this season ? well enough, in fact that the team decided against acquiring a veteran outfielder at the trade deadline ? and third base is his first position.

 

?It?s not my call,? Lowell said when asked if the Marlins will keep him and the current core of players together. ?If we?re a winning team, I?d love to (stay). It?s not my money.?

This Mike Lowell after the all-star break :sleeping :sleeping :sleeping :sleeping

 

This is Mike Lowell before the All-Star break :batman

 

This Mike after the season :deal

 

This is all us after Mikey demands go through the roof :censored :fyou :crying :hanged :violin :killthemall :wow :ninja :chair :banghead :angry

 

SO WAKE THE F.... UP!!!! BECAUSE IF YOU WANT $$$$ YOU MUST PLAY NOW!!

:sleeping :sleeping :sleeping :sleeping This Mike Lowell after the all-star break this is Mike Lowell before the All-Star break :batman This Mike after the season :deal This is all us after Mikey demands go through the roof :censored :fyou :crying :hanged :violin :killthemall :wow :ninja :chair :banghead :angry

 

SO WAKE THE F.... UP!!!! BECAUSE IF YOU WANT $$$$ YOU MUST PLAY NOW!!

geez

SO WAKE THE F.... UP!!!! BECAUSE IF YOU WANT $$$$ YOU MUST PLAY NOW!!

Dude, it's not like he's batting poorly on purpose or he's not paying attention out there. He's in a bad slump. Remember last year, he managed to get out of it in September and have a good last month so he may be able to pull out of it.

Mike does well against NL East pitching, hence his good first half and Sept. success.

This Mike Lowell after the all-star break :sleeping :sleeping :sleeping :sleeping

 

This is Mike Lowell before the All-Star break :batman

 

This Mike after the season :deal

 

This is all us after Mikey demands go through the roof :censored :fyou :crying :hanged :violin :killthemall :wow :ninja :chair :banghead :angry

 

SO WAKE THE F.... UP!!!! BECAUSE IF YOU WANT $$$$ YOU MUST PLAY NOW!!

For the simple minded folk, Edcanes can always come through with a nice picturebook post.