Lowell shows his value

DENVER – Choosing a World Series most valuable player Sunday was like picking out one ant from a hill swarming with them and declaring it the most productive in the colony.

The Boston Red Sox swarmed the mound after their sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday night, and as snapshots go, this was the picture of equality. One for all and all for one, from Dominican sluggers to a demonstrative closer, from pesky rookies to stalwart starting pitchers, from a cagey catcher to an MVP third baseman.

Yes, it was third baseman Mike Lowell who was handed the hardware. And make no mistake, he was wonderful in the 4-3 Game 4 victory at Coors Field that brought the Red Sox their second World Series championship in four years. He doubled and scored the Red Sox's second run in the fifth inning and homered to open the seventh to stretch the lead to 3-0. He batted a cool .400 in the series, scored six runs and drove in four.

"For us to come through and do what we thought we were capable of doing is unbelievable," he said. "We've got a lot of people to give credit to."

No kidding. A small committee of official scorers and media members picked Lowell off the Red Sox assembly line, which was like trying to choose the MVP of a '60s commune. There just isn't one. On this club, everybody contributes in an equal fashion.

Any of the four starting pitchers could have been MVP. They all notched victories, handing the ball to the bullpen with a lead in each game. Remember Josh Beckett's performance in Game 1? Nine strikeouts in seven dominant innings. If he does that in Game 4 he's probably the MVP because what-have-you-done-lately does matter.

Speaking of, how about rookie outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury? Certainly he was MVP of the two games in Denver, becoming the third rookie in baseball history to bang out four hits in a game Saturday, adding two hits Sunday to raise his Series average to .438, and making a spectacular running catch at the wall for the second out of the ninth inning on a drive by Jamey Carroll.

And don't forget catcher Jason Varitek, who drove in Lowell in the fifth, led the Red Sox with five RBIs in the series, batting .333 and handled the pitchers with the savvy of the 10-year veteran he is.

Of course, the pitcher Varitek hugged after the final out also could have been MVP. Jonathan Papelbon had three saves – including preserving one-run leads in Games 2 and 4 – pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings and surely set a record for highest toss of a mitt after he struck out Seth Smith for the last out Sunday.

"This was everybody, there were so many guys who came through exactly when they had to, when it mattered most," Papelbon said.

That brings us to the middle of the batting order, to David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, who set the tone for the Red Sox's dominance by combining for six hits and five runs in the 13-1 opening victory.

Stellar performances continued down the pecking order. Shortstop Julio Lugo batted .385, right fielder J.D. Drew batted .333 and second baseman Dustin Pedroia homered in the first inning of Game 1, drove in four runs and played flawless defense.

Where does it end? Manager Terry Francona is 8-0 in World Series games, this sweep coming three years after the Red Sox won their last eight playoff games to take the 2004 championship. Even the advance scouts were miles ahead of their Rockies counterparts.

"Perhaps it demonstrates that the process is sound and that a lot of people have worked really hard toward this goal to make something happen," general manager Theo Epstein said.

Epstein, however, had temporarily left the Red Sox when the team acquired Beckett and Lowell from the Florida Marlins in November, 2005, for four prospects, one of whom was Hanley Ramirez, who has developed into one of the game's top young shortstops. The GM-by-committee that stepped in while Epstein was going through something of an identity crisis took on $18 million of Lowell's salary to complete the deal, although the Red Sox refused to part with a young left-handed pitcher the Marlins wanted.

That pitcher was Jon Lester, who gave the Red Sox 5 2/3 scoreless innings Sunday filling in for the injured Tim Wakefield.

Lester, Pedroia, Ellsbury and Papelbon represent more than the future of this franchise. They also serve as proof that the front office is capable of developing players.

"Our philosophies are geared toward developing a player who can perform on this stage, can handle the media, can play well at the most important times and can come up with a pretty quick adjustment period so he doesn't take 1,000 major-league at-bats to come into his own," Epstein said.

And Red Sox philosophies also leave room for taking on the staggering contract of a player with a history of injuries, such as Lowell. They gave him a role, a comfort zone and he flourished, setting career bests with a .324 average and 120 RBIs this season.

The financial freedom to put Lowell in a position to become World Series MVP is directly attributable to hundreds of thousands of other ants in the Red Sox colony – the fans. Several thousand took over the field level of the stands at Coors Field after the game, staying around for more than an hour to honor the players.

The loyal support of Red Sox Nation means Epstein can pay Lowell, Ramirez, Beckett and Curt Schilling the going rate for proven playoff veterans while at the same time focusing on developing young talent.

And Epstein must have been listening when those fans repeatedly chanted "Re-sign Lowell."

The third baseman – the World Series MVP third baseman – is a free agent. He made it clear he wants to toil on this same assembly line next year.

"It starts from our owner John Henry providing the players and doing the things that we need to do during the course of a season to put together a playoff team, and then it all trickles down to the upper management, the staff and the players," Lowell said. "We're all one big unit that's trying to accomplish the same goal."

Steve Henson is the MLB editor for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter. Send Steve a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Monday, Oct 29, 2007 3:56 am, EDT

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