Mike Lowell Reflects On Red Sox 2007 World Series Title: 'I Still Get Goosebumps'
BOSTON (CBS) -- While many hope that baseball will return at some point this summer, it's downright exhausting to keep up with the daily soap opera between the players and owners. So in this baseball-less -- and overall sports-less -- world, many are finding an escape in reliving the glory days of yesteryear.
With the Boston Red Sox, there are plenty for recent options to choose from. The 2004 World Series run was the one that ended an 86-year championship drought, ending decades of suffering for Boston fans. The 2013 run came when Boston needed a boost from the Marathon bombings six months prior, and the 2018 World Series-winning team was just an absolute wagon.
Occasionally lost in the shuffle was Boston's 2007 march to a World Series victory. That team was loaded, and won 96 games in the regular season to win the AL East. Though the playoffs didn't match the dramatics of 2004 -- when the team came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the ALCS -- they still had to overcome a 3-1 hole against the Cleveland Indians to reach the Fall Classic. And once again, the Red Sox swept their way through the World Series, taking four straight games against the Colorado Rockies.
There is no one better than Mike Lowell to reminisce about that Sox team with, the MVP of Boston's sweep against Colorado. WBZ-TV's Dan Roche caught up with Lowell on Thursday, and like many, Lowell feels the 2007 title is often the forgotten member of Boston's recent four titles.
"I think the underrated part of that team is we're sandwiched between two incredible stories of the Red Sox," said Lowell. "2004 breaks everything and kind of wins it for all the generations that suffered, and then the '13 team is what makes the city so powerful. So, '07 kind of gets lost in the mix a little.
"I love watching the old games because you hear all the stats and stuff that you don't hear as a player on the field," said Lowell. "There are little bits that you forget it, like I forgot [Hideki] Okajima came in with two guys and two outs -- what a big situation. Or, 'Man, [Jonathan] Papelbon was so good and [Josh] Beckett was ridiculous.'"
Lowell says what impressed him most of that championship squad was the balance between veterans and young players, all of whom contributed to that World Series title. Lowell was one of the vets who came through, along with David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and newcomer J.D. Drew, while youngsters Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury all had a big hand in winning it all.
"I look at how balanced we were. You look at a team where Lester was our No. 4 starter. I know he was young, but the stuff was there. In a market like Boston, I don't really think you see so many young guys pan out to handle pressure and be big contributors," he said. "J.D. Drew and Daisuke Matsuzaka were in new situations. Everyone came together and I feel like we had strength everywhere. We had a lot of speed, a lot of power with David and Manny in the middle, good pitching, good middle relief and a great closer. We were as balanced as any team.
"I think we ended up being a little bit boring because we ran wire-to-wire," joked Lowell. "I think after the first five games were first place and never looked back, had the best record. Besides the hiccup with Cleveland, where we have a little drama where we were down three one, it seemed like we kind of coasted. It didn't feel like it at the time, but when you look back, it's like, 'Oh wow, we were really a complete team.'"
That championship was Lowell's second of his career, after winning one with the Florida Marlins in 2003. But two years later he was a salary dump for Florida in the trade that sent Beckett to Boston, a player the Red Sox had to take in order to get the young hurler.
Lowell had a solid season in 2006, but he was great in 2007, making the All-Star squad and finishing the regular season with a .324 average, 21 homers and 120 RBIs. He said that winning a title with the Marlins remains a blur, and now, nearly 13 years removed from being the MVP of that Fall Classic, Lowell says he appreciates his glory days with the Red Sox a lot more.
"The further I get away from that, I realize what a special time it was. After '05, I think a lot of experts said my career was going down. I had a subpar year with the Marlins, so they shipped me off to Boston because they needed a front-line pitcher and had money to take on my back-loaded contract. So it was a great feeling for me to kind of put myself back to where I felt like I was an above average player," he said.
"I tell people that '07, the World Series MVP -- I played a lot of Wiffle Ball growing up, like five, six days a week, and I don't think that situation ever came up, where you're like 'Boom, I got a hit -- World Series MVP!' The MVP doesn't even enter the equation. You would say bottom of the ninth, Game 7 -- all those scenarios. So I tell people the World Series MVP is like icing on the cake," he added.
"For me, the most satisfying part of what that World Series MVP stands for was that on the biggest stage, I did a really good job," said Lowell. "I think I could maybe brag to my son or maybe in the future when I have grand kids, I can tell them 'this old man did a really good job when a lot was on the line and a lot was expected.'"
Lowell said that after his struggles in 2005, he approached his shot with the Red Sox as an opportunity for a fresh start.
"I had to reset, so I took it as I was a minor leaguer. Yes, I had two years on my contract and everyone says I was going to get paid anyways, but getting paid and not playing well is such a bad feeling that I didn't want to go through that," he said. "I was 30 at the time but I didn't feel for one second like my career was on a downswing. I think you learn a lot more from your failures. When you're going good everyone understands how great it is, but when you struggle I think you learn a lto more about yourself and how to handle diversity."
With the 2007 Red Sox lineup, opposing pitchers often pitched around Ortiz and Ramirez to get to Lowell. That, along with all the doubt that others had in his game at the end of his time with the Marlins and the disappointment of Boston missing the playoffs in 2006, gave Lowell plenty of motivation to prove everyone wrong in 2007.
"The fact that I was able to drive in a lot of runs that year was just, it was an extra stamp on kind of proving people wrong. It's something that motivated me and it was just a really special year," he said. "I still get goosebumps watching it on TV after 13 years, so it's it's a pretty good feeling."
