April 16, 2008

Happy Birthday Jeb Lowry

Jed Lowrie -- who will celebrate his 24th birthday today in New York -- became the second Red Sox player to have three RBI in his major league debut.

The other Sock was Merl Combs, who did it September 12, 1947. Combs also debuted as a third baseman, though he spent more games at shortstop over his brief five-year career.

Lowrie:
My first professional hit in Lowell I remember [former Spinners manager Luis] Alicea asked me if I wanted to keep the ball. I said, "No. I only want to keep my first major league hit." ... Right before [my first AB], Mike Lowell came up to me and told me the guy likes to throw sliders and cutters in. He threw me a fastball away and everything else was a slider in. I was able to put a barrel on it and get it through the hole.
As per tradition, Lowrie was presented with a fake "first hit" ball with "Nice 3,000,000 chopper" and "2 RBI, but K'd in his first at-bat" and "Jeb Lowry" written on it.
I thought it was a joke, but they played up. Beckett sold it pretty good.
Jason Varitek's last pinch-hit homer came on June 12, 2003 against St. Louis. That was a wild game! ... It was also the first Red Sox pinch-hit home run since Doug Mirabelli went deep on October 2, 2005.

Other Red Sox born on April 16 include: Jim Lonborg, Bob Montgomery, and Dutch Leonard.

7 comments:

Will Stoutamire said...

Haha, I remember that 2003 game like it was yesterday... It was my first Fenway game! Though my family are all Sox fans, we live down in Florida now and I had never seen a game at the park until then...

Despite losing, that game was so much fun that I became the obsessive fan of baseball that I am today :)

Jere said...

No reg. season pinch dongs since '05, but Kielty had that key one on Game Four of the WS last year.

Pepe Lepew said...

Way to go, Jed Lowrie. Another Oregon kid doing well for the Red Sox.

Pepe Lepew said...

Oops. Lowrie, not Lowry. I did it, too.

allan said...

Despite losing, that game was so much fun

Yes it was. It was one of the best games of the year, actually.

We were at a house we had rented for the month of June a few hours north of NYC. And we had gone jumped thru some hoops to get the EI package.

When I saw the date in the paper, I wondered "Was that the insane extra innings game with both teams trading runs back and forth?" ... And it was.

First game at Fenway -- Damn! You sure got your money's worth.

Jack Marshall said...

WHY did you have to remind me about THAT game? By the time Mendoza came in to blow it, everyone who followed the Sox EXCEPT Grady Little knew that he was throwing batting practice and was washed up. Actually, Timlin will be at about that stage by that time this year...

Will Stoutamire said...

redsock, that's exactly how I felt... I blame that game on why everything I own has a Sox logo :). I live and die by them now... and I'm dying in this slugfest tonight...