Lowell Ahead of the Fans' Learning Curve

Quietly, Mike Lowell is putting together quite a season for the Boston Red Sox.  If he keeps up, he may well be worth every bit of the $9 million the Red Sox took on in his annual salary when they traded for Josh Beckett and Lowell from the Marlins this off season.

Lowell is leading the Majors in doubles with 17 and is hitting .339 with a .400 OBP and .542 SLG (.942 OPS).  Those are big time numbers offensively, and Lowell is providing a slick glove at third base as well (coming off a Gold Glove in the N.L. last season).  Strangely, the Fenway faithful seem slow to warm up to Lowell, though after a hot weekend, this seems to be changing.  It could be because he came in as a guy who hit only .236 last season and who the Red Sox were going to have to pay $18 million over two years as a premium for nabbing phenom Beckett.  Even as it's looking like fair market value (for now), the fans have been slow to catch on.

Lowell has only 2 home runs through Sunday and hasn't won any games with a walk-off of any kind (a la Mark Loretta, who has enjoyed significant good will despite a .240 average).  And, of course, Lowell doesn't have the long-standing popularity of other proven Sox regulars such as Manny, Ortiz, Varitek, or Nixon.  But this season, Lowell has outperformed all but Ortiz and should be hitting in the number 5 spot in the order before long if he keeps up.

The fans should stand up and take notice.  His teammates have already, and the rest of the league is sure to do so.