Red Sox In Football Terms by Jared Carrabis
Josh Beckett: 'Probable' For Game 3 / Mike Lowell 'Questionable' For Game 2

According to reports from the Boston Globe, Josh Beckett's side session that he threw in preparation for his potential Game 3 start this Sunday went very well. The October hero of a year ago threw 65-67 pitches in his bullpen session on Thursday with "No limitations" according to Red Sox pitching coach, John Farrell. Not long after, Farrell spoke the words that Red Sox Nation had been waiting to hear since word of Beckett's oblique injury hit the papers, "I will tell you from the look in his bullpen today, he looks ready to go for Sunday."

Josh Beckett threw his side session just like he would have thrown a regular season start. He threw all of his pitches (fastball, changeup, curveball) with no tightness or pain in his oblique. On an even brighter note, he threw all of his pitches with the same amount of effort that he is accustomed to exerting in all non-injury-plagued bullpen sessions. Josh Beckett will continue to prepare for Game 3 of the ALDS which at the moment he is penciled in to start but soon he hopes that the graphite becomes permanent ink and his 2008 October debut is just a game away.


Mike Lowell on the other hand may not be on the same road to recovery as Beckett. The Red Sox third baseman played the entire first game of the American League Division Series but at times showed indications of pain being felt in his injured hip. The torn labrum in the hip of Mike Lowell is not an injury that days rest will be able to ease his pain. Lowell will need to undergo surgery in the offseason before his hip will not be hindering his play.


When asked to compare this injury to that of any other injury he has suffered as a Major League player Lowell responded by saying "It is the worst in terms of pain. Hands down. I don't think anything compares to this. I've never had to take measures to get ready for a game the way I am now. But I don't regret it." Spoken like a true teammate.


The injury to Mike Lowell will cause Red Sox manager Terry Francona to make a very difficult decision on whether or not to remove Mike Lowell from the lineup. Lowell will not oppose if his teammates feels as if though he's hurting the team but if Lowell were going to take himself out of that lineup himself, he would have done it already. The pain can't possibly get any worse and he's going out there and battling for his team because the bottom line is that they are at their best with him in the lineup and at a disadvantage when he is not.


Red Sox second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, admired Lowell's painful efforts to help the Red Sox return to the World Series for the second straight year, "When you see Mike Lowell out there playing, how much pain he's in, you want to go out there and do all you can to help us win. It's a huge lift for us." It's anyone's guess whether or not Mike Lowell will be standing at third base at the start of Game 2 on Friday night but if he is, the Fenway Faithful better make him go deaf with the standing ovation he deserves on Sunday night in Game 3.

Published on October 03, 2008

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