Lowell's hip labrum torn
Condition may require surgery in the offseason
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Though you might not have known it on the home run swing Mike Lowell took in the first inning last night, the third baseman has been playing with a painful partially torn labrum in his right hip, an injury that will likely need surgery after the season.
He also revealed that he got another injection Thursday, similar to the one he got in August, though this one also contained nutrients to help the cartilage of the hip.
Before the Red Sox' 13-5 rout of Tampa Bay, Lowell disclosed the nature of his injury, which has been plaguing him for some time. He has had trouble running the bases and moving defensively at third base, but he will continue to play through the discomfort, which first surfaced in late June.
When Lowell returned to the team after getting the initial injection in August - a mix of an anti-inflammatory and something to coat the hip joint - he said the hip injury mostly affected his running. And it's clearly a problem, as one can see by watching Lowell jog to first base.
But it also seems to have hurt his numbers at the plate. Though he homered in the first inning last night, in 32 games since the All-Star break, Lowell is batting just .224 with 4 homers and 16 RBIs, and slugging .360.
"It bothers me every time I run and make a few steps defensively," Lowell said. "It's more of a grab and a nag, as opposed to excruciating pain. Just uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. I'd prefer not having it."
Last month, a baseball source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said part of the reason the Orioles resisted trading for Josh Beckett and Lowell in 2005 was that team medical officials believed he would encounter hip problems. Having lived through Albert Belle's degenerative hip condition, the Orioles backed out of talks with the Marlins. However, a Red Sox source said the hip was not a factor in Lowell's latest contract, a three-year, $37.5 million pact signed this past offseason.
Though labrum injuries most frequently are associated with shoulders, the term refers to cartilage within the joint. Cartilage injuries can be painful and reduce mobility, but many athletes opt to play through them and postpone surgery until after the season.
Lowell said the surgery could be done arthroscopically. When he addressed the issue in August, he said part of the problem came from bone spurs in the hip, and that he might have to have surgery in the offseason to shave those down.
"That's one of the options that they're going to present to me," Lowell said. "I think that's definitely something they've already mentioned to me that could be a possibility. There's a lot of scenarios. Shaving the bone spurs is a lot more extensive. I'm not sure which route I'd like to go."
The hip injury isn't the only one Lowell has sustained this season; he missed time early with a sprained left thumb and was sidelined with an oblique strain for about a month. He said yesterday that the oblique is feeling quite good, and that it generally does not affect him in the field or at the plate. It was the MRI that Lowell took for the oblique, he said, that revealed the partial labrum tear.
Milestone for Timlin
Just a half-hour away from his offseason home, with family and friends in attendance, Mike Timlin did something last night that no other righthanded reliever has done: He made his 1,051st appearance. With his one inning of work, Timlin broke the record he shared with Kent Tekulve.
"Quite humbling," Timlin said. "It's something I've been kind of eyeballing all year. It's a goal I've been working for for a long time.
"You start targeting it once you hit 1,000. You just want to see how far you can go. I would probably have a lot more had I been throwing the ball a little bit better, more consistent this year, but I haven't. When they come, they come. I'm happy to take them."
Just three pitchers, all lefthanders, have more career relief appearances than Timlin: Jesse Orosco at 1,248, Mike Stanton at 1,177, and John Franco at 1,119.
Though Timlin has struggled this season - 5.96 ERA, 4-4 record in 44 games - he said he has made no decisions about next year.
He has done some thinking, but "I want to finish this job first," he said.
"We wanted to get Timlin in there because we knew the significance of that," said manager Terry Francona. "That's a tremendous achievement. That's a lot of appearances."
Disappearing acts
Jason Bay's homer in the fourth inning marked the third time in Tropicana Field history that a fair ball hit the catwalk and didn't come down. It was the first time it happened with the C-ring catwalk. Carlos Pena did it this season, and Jose Canseco did it in 1999, both times on B-ring catwalks . . . Both dugouts were warned in the second inning when Scott Kazmir hit Jason Varitek with a pitch. That brought out both Francona and Rays manager Joe Maddon, neither of whom seemed all that happy about it. "I was shocked," Francona said. "I think Joe was, too. I wasn't ready for that. I'm glad it didn't get in the way of the game." The history between the teams played into the warning. Daisuke Matsuzaka hit Evan Longoria to begin the fourth, but he was not thrown out . . . Akinori Iwamura's homer was hardly surprising, as four of his six homers this season have come against Boston . . . Varitek's home run gave him 158 as a catcher, passing Carlton Fisk for the Sox record at the position . . . The nine home runs last night were the most ever in one game at Tropicana Field . . . David Ortiz's homer was his 244th as a designated hitter, moving him past Edgar Martinez for second place all-time. Frank Thomas has 269.
A plug for Sveum
Along with the news of Ned Yost's firing as manager of the Brewers came word that Dale Sveum would be interim manager. Sveum, of course, was the third base coach when the Sox won the World Series in 2004, and stayed through 2005. "It's an interesting time to start your managerial career," Francona said. "I hope CC [Sabathia] is throwing in the first game." Later, Francona praised Sveum, calling him one of his better friends in baseball. "The players really like Dale a lot," Francona said. "They should. He's got a way of, in my opinion, getting a point across. He really did a good job. I know there were some issues - [Rocco] Baldelli threw out, like, six guys in a row one stretch. Because it's in Boston, people wanted to assassinate him. But he's a good coach. He had an extraordinary way of communicating with players." . . . J. D. Drew is expected to rejoin the team today, after spending the weekend with family in the wake of his grandmother's death. The funeral services were yesterday. Drew sent messages to assistant trainer Mike Reinold and Francona, saying that the first day he was sore from the shot he received Friday, but that he had marked improvement after that. There is no timeline for his return to the lineup. 