Much appreciated...
The Cleveland Indians are off to an 18-16 start and are currently in first place in the American League’s Central division. A big part of that has been the performance of pitcher Derek Lowe, who has a 2.47 ERA through seven starts and leads the club in wins with 5. Away from the diamond things haven’t gone quite as well for Lowe recently. Last month someone broke into Lowe’s Fort Myers, FL home and made off with $90,000 worth of property, including his 2004 World Series ring and a gold World Series trophy from his time as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
The Indians were in Boston this weekend for a four-game series and before last night’s game Lowe was visited by members of the front office of his former employers, who had something to give him.
Lowe was rendered nearly speechless when Boston executives John Henry, Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner presented him with a 2004 World Series ring to replace the one that was stolen from his Florida home earlier this year.
“You know me, I can talk,” said Lowe. “But it was one of those moments where I didn’t even know what to say. It wasn’t like they just sent over a bat boy or sent it over. All three of them came over to give it to me. They said some really nice things.”
“They didn’t have to do that at all,” said Lowe. “I just don’t want it to go unnoticed. I knew there was an opportunity for me to buy another one, but to have all three of them there when they gave it to me really meant a lot.”
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” said Lowe. “It almost means more this time because it was a selfless act on their part. I just want people to know they did this.”
The Red Sox seemingly have as many fans as any team in baseball and probably just as many who don’t like them. Even if you aren’t a fan it’s hard not to like what the Red Sox did for an important piece of their championship run. In the 2004 postseason Lowe was 3-0 with victories in game 3 of the division series over the Angels, game 7 of the AL championship series versus the Yankees, and game 4 of the World Series against the Cardinals. Lowe was with Boston from 1997-2004 and made his only two All-Star game appearances as a member of the Red Sox.
In his most recent start Lowe defeated Boston last Thursday, allowing two runs over six innings.
