Retaining Lowell pays off in MVP

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Boston's Mike Lowell holds up his MVP trophy after Game 4 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies. The Red Sox won 4-3 to sweep the series.

DENVER - The Red Sox are sure glad now they didn't trade Mike Lowell to the Rockies in a deal for Todd Helton before the season.

Lowell stayed in Boston, had a spectacular regular season and capped it Sunday when he was named MVP of the World Series - against Colorado.

Lowell hit .400 for the four games (6-for-15), scored a team-high six runs and drove in four, one in Sunday's clincher.

"I'm on Cloud 9," Lowell said. "It's unbelievable."

Lowell is eligible for free agency, and it will be interesting to see what impact his postseason success has on the negotiations. The thousands of Red Sox fans in the stands Sunday night serenaded him with chants of "Re-sign Lowell!" during postgame interviews.

The Sox were lucky to get him, as the Marlins made him part of the deal for Josh Beckett, and even Lowell has joked about the circumstances of the November 2005 deal.

"I was the throw-in in the deal," Lowell said. "They needed Josh Beckett. They needed to get a top right-handed pitcher, and I don't think the Red Sox after the '05 season were like, 'Lowell has to be in that deal for us to take Beckett.'"

HEAVY HITTERS: Brewers 1B Prince Fielder and Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez were named winners of the Hank Aaron Award as the top offensive performers in their leagues.

Aaron raved about Fielder, who hit an NL-leading 50 homers, saying he was "on his way to being part of the Cooperstown brigade."

Fielder seemed awed by Aaron's compliments, saying: "I'm only 23 and when I was in high school I never thought I was going to be able to sit by him and (have) him say all those great things about me, so that's awesome. ... I'm speechless right now."

Rodriguez, who led the majors with 54 homers, was a no-show due to what commissioner Bud Selig described as "prior commitments." Hmm, like opting out of his contract with the Yankees.

ANYBODY HAVE JEFF GARCIA? Despite the dire predicament, the Rockies weren't too tight before Sunday's game. According to pitcher Jeff Francis, the only ones upset about anything were those not having a good day with their fantasy football teams.

"The guys who are winning in fantasy football are probably more excited than the guys who are losing," he said. "That seems to be the main focus in there right now, which it is every Sunday once September comes around. But it's the same; it's loose."

MISCELLANY: The Sox were the first team to have four different starters win the first four games of a Series since the 1927 Yankees had Waite Hoyt, George Pipgras, Herb Pennock and Wilcy Moore. ... Jonathan Papelbon worked 102/3 scoreless innings in the postseason. ... The Sox outscored the Rox 29-10, the 19-run margin the largest since 2002. ... The 29 runs were the third-most for a four-game Series. ... Trisha Yearwood sang the anthem and the country group Lonestar performed God Bless America. ... At 4 hours, 19 minutes, Saturday's game was the longest nine-inning game in Series history, surpassed the 4:14 Game 4 in the 1993 Toronto-Philadelphia Series. The teams also combined to use a nine-inning record 12 pitchers.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 01:23:05]