By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007

BOSTON, Oct. 25 -- Little-discussed facts about Mike Lowell: He made his major league debut with the 1998 New York Yankees, who won a World Series that year and are hated here. He overcame a bout with testicular cancer while with the Florida Marlins. And in 2005, his performance dropped off so precipitously, the Marlins insisted he be included in the trade that sent ace right-hander Josh Beckett to Boston, a salary dump that was widely perceived to be a poor move for the Red Sox.

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"Don't forget," Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan said this week. "Mike Lowell drove in 120 runs for this team."

In New England, that is far from forgotten, and Thursday night, Lowell assured he would be remembered even more fondly. In a taut Game 2 of the World Series, he drilled a tiebreaking double into left field in the fifth, providing the go-ahead run that led to the Red Sox' 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Thus, on a night when Boston's irrepressible duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez didn't drive in a run, Lowell was left to be the offensive hero. Given the events of the summer, that was hardly shocking to the 36,730 who packed Fenway Park. Most of the highlights will deal with Boston right-hander Curt Schilling, who allowed just one run, and the stellar relief work of Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. But the Red Sox wouldn't have taken a 2-0 lead in the series without Lowell.

"He's been our guy all year," second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "They walk David or Manny, he's always there. We've relied on him in a lot of important situations, and he's come through."

As he did Thursday. In the fourth, he walked and scored Boston's first run on Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly. With two outs in the fifth and tension unlike anything from the blowout of Game 1, Ortiz was on second, Ramirez on first. Lowell drilled a 2-1 pitch from Jimenez into the left field corner. The crowd roared, Ortiz scored easily, and when Lowell arrived at second, he looked back at the dugout as if to reassure his mates.

"With two outs, you got David coming up and Manny coming up," Lowell said. "The pitcher's got to be concerned."

He did, of course, leave himself out. But Thursday put further emphasis on his season: a career-high .324 average, 21 homers, those 120 RBI, another career high. What the numbers don't show: his impact in the clubhouse.

"As classy a teammate as I've ever had, to start off," Schilling said. "On and off the field, he's man-to-man, a professional. I have no idea what it takes to play every day in the big leagues, the physical and mental grind that it is. But I know he is as good at it as anybody I've ever met."

With a career that appeared to be bottoming out in 2005 -- when he hit .236 with all of eight home runs for the Marlins -- the grind might have worn on Lowell. The negotiations in the Beckett trade -- in which the Red Sox sent eventual NL rookie of the year Hanley Ramirez as part of a package to Florida -- were prolonged, in part because of the Marlins' insistence that Boston accept Lowell.

"They needed Josh Beckett," Lowell said. "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.' "

Typical self-deprecation. "That's part of him being modest, which is not such a bad thing," Boston Manager Terry Francona said. "It's kind of an endearing quality."

He has endeared himself to these fans, but his four-year, $32-million contract expires at the conclusion of the World Series. There are moving parts for the Red Sox in the offseason, and with Alex Rodriguez potentially becoming a free agent, it's hard to sift through the tea leaves and figure out who will play third in Boston in 2008.

Before Game 2, Red Sox owner John Henry and Lowell himself deflected questions about his future. What Lowell would prefer to discuss, of course, is the present, because if these, indeed, are his final days with the Red Sox, it appears he's going to have a fabulous finish.