Live from the ballyard: The Lowe-down on a big-game pitcher
Derek Lowe started Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS in the old Yankee Stadium. No pressure there. Only 85 years of Red Sox angst bottled into one night in the Bronx.
He won the game. Went on two days’ rest. Pitched six innings, yielded one hit and one earned run.
One week later, Derek Lowe started Game 4 of the World Series in the old Busch Stadium. No pressure there. Only the Curse of the Bambino and all that other sad New England history to put to rest.
He won the game. Pitched seven innings, yielded three hits and no runs.
Yeah, 2004 was a while ago — but not so long as 1918 was to Red Sox Nation — and we in Atlanta haven’t seen much of that D-Lowe in his two seasons here. But the Braves signed him for $15 million per annum for two reasons: First, Lowe never misses a start, and second, he’s a big-game pitcher.
Lowe missed one start this season. It came early this month after he received a cortisone shot for the bone chip in his elbow. He’s 4-0 since. He has yielded three earned runs in 25 September innings. He’s the reason the Braves lead the wild card chase by 1 1/2 games with four to play. He has done what even Tim Hudson couldn’t do — won big games by the bunch.
A lot of people wanted rid of Lowe after last season, Frank Wren chief among them. But the GM couldn’t find anybody willing to take that salary, and you know what? Sometimes the best trades (all together now) …
Are the ones you don’t make. The Braves would have been long gone without D-Lowe, and today they dispatch him to the hill again. He’s pitching on three days’ rest. Doesn’t matter. He’s Derek Lowe. He’s a gamer.
And with that, the floor is open for questions, comments and postseason projections. (I think the Braves will play the Giants in Round 1.) I’ll be here until the end of this strangely timed — game time is 4:35 p.m. — tilt, and I’d be obliged if you’d ride along. And I offer my thanks in advance.
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673 comments Add your comment
JD
September 29th, 2010
6:45 pm
Jesse…I have a friend Fuchs also…tough guy
"Chef" Tim Dix
September 29th, 2010
6:45 pm
So what do you think….
Wife’s birthday is Saturday, we’ll be at the game w/ duaghter.
Carriage ride through town after game, dinner at Ruth’s Cris and stay at the W?
HELP!
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:45 pm
I hear Mickey Dolenz once took the last train to Clarksville.
JD
September 29th, 2010
6:46 pm
quit monkeyin around will ya
Jesse Stone
September 29th, 2010
6:46 pm
Marcia Brady thought Mickey Dolenz was “the most”.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:46 pm
That sounds nice, Chef. But don’t ask me: I was thinking about splurging on Burger King tonight.
Jack
September 29th, 2010
6:47 pm
Hey Mark….are you sitting in a bar somewhere watching this?
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:47 pm
We had to end our Cub Scout den meetings at 8 p.m. Monday nights so we could watch “The Monkees.”
Mike S
September 29th, 2010
6:48 pm
Dunn does his job! What gas!!!
Jesse Stone
September 29th, 2010
6:48 pm
Mark, I bet you looked fancy in your kerchief
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:48 pm
Sitting in ye old press box, Jack, with the wind whistling through my stylishly cut hair.
JD
September 29th, 2010
6:49 pm
wind whistling…dunn’s gas perhaps?
Joseph
September 29th, 2010
6:49 pm
SOME PEOPLE WILL COMPLAIN NO MATTER WHAT! IT”S ALL BOBBY COX’S FAULT THAT MEDLEN,CHIPPER,PRADO, ARE DONE FOR THE YEAR. KK HAS BEEN A BUST, AND THE OFFENSE IS A PATCH JOB AND YET WE HAVE A GREAT SHOT TO GET IN THE PLAYOFF’S! COME ON PEOPLE FIND SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT! GO BRAVES!
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:49 pm
Dunn done good there, JD.
JD
September 29th, 2010
6:50 pm
Can I complain about your ALL CAPS?
Joycee Banicheck
September 29th, 2010
6:50 pm
The Fabulous freebirds baby. What was that song they had? Bad Street USA?
Jesse Stone
September 29th, 2010
6:51 pm
Yeah Joseph, take his TIP about YOUR CAPs
JD
September 29th, 2010
6:51 pm
MB. Junior Samples couldn’t have said it better.
Joseph
September 29th, 2010
6:51 pm
sure jd!
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:52 pm
D-Lee with a D-ouble off the wall.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:52 pm
McLouth pinch-runs
Joycee Banicheck
September 29th, 2010
6:53 pm
OMG, Derick Lee swung the bat. Better button up boys, hades is freezin over
Jack
September 29th, 2010
6:53 pm
All right Derek! See what happens when you swing?
you peeps are gettin drunk
September 29th, 2010
6:53 pm
Ditch the chicks-buy some bourbon- watch cartoons in your underwear, whilst cleaning your loaded pistols-I do it all the time. Great fun. Eat Bennie Weinne.
Joseph
September 29th, 2010
6:53 pm
Pressure building for Padres!
bucky oneil
September 29th, 2010
6:53 pm
Jesse Stone – Sounds like we may be related. Did you watch Porter Wagnor and Bill Anderson before Hew-Haw?
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:54 pm
Not many better names than Burke Badenhop, who’s pitching for Florida
Dawg '85
September 29th, 2010
6:54 pm
My Dawgs have been playin’ kinda like cub scouts… We Blows!
Joseph
September 29th, 2010
6:54 pm
That’s a bad at bat Gonzo!
TTTT-Thumbody Thed Thats Thupid!
September 29th, 2010
6:54 pm
MB, that’s a misnomer about the train. Turns out it was after midnight, so actually was the first train. Just didn’t sound right to say “first train” so they just left it.
Jack
September 29th, 2010
6:54 pm
A-Gonz is having a BAD day at the plate!
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:55 pm
David Ross now trying to bunt for a hit. Goodness gracious.
Headley Lamar
September 29th, 2010
6:55 pm
Gary Mathews Sr. will be here this weekend — he’s an announcer for the Phillies.
The Sarge. Remember him from my youth watching the Cubs over another seemingly endless Summer.
Cubs played day games everyday back then. No lights.
Jesse Stone
September 29th, 2010
6:55 pm
No bucky, I’m only 39. I watched what my Grandma wanted while I was there. Not that I’m complaining
jeffrey d
September 29th, 2010
6:55 pm
OMG, Derick Lee swung the bat. Better button up boys, hades is freezin over
He’s been hitting .317 over the past 2 weeks. But don’t let that get in the way
HOG IN DOUGLAS
September 29th, 2010
6:56 pm
little insurance be nice
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:56 pm
“Hee Haw” was a staple in Maysville, Ky., I must say.
Joycee Banicheck
September 29th, 2010
6:56 pm
I still think he sucks, probably always will unless he does something in the playoffs.
UGA ALL THE WAY
September 29th, 2010
6:57 pm
I don’t think i’d want to bunt D. Ross. Great hitter and not so good bunter/runner
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:57 pm
Pretty sure Ross was bunting on his own, UGA.
Jesse Stone
September 29th, 2010
6:57 pm
That lady that was always ironing and nagging her husband on Hee Haw used to scare the crap out of me. Little did I know I would marry her likeness years later.
HOG IN DOUGLAS
September 29th, 2010
6:57 pm
raw dawg
Paul in RDU
September 29th, 2010
6:58 pm
Mark – Hee Haw may have been a staple in Maysville, KY, but what about the sophisticated town of Augusta, KY?
bucky oneil
September 29th, 2010
6:58 pm
You didn’t miss much with The Bill Anderson Show, except when the drunken Waylon Jennings showed up.
HOG IN DOUGLAS
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
whos pitching friday?
bobbycoxcountdown: 4
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
lol Jesse.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
You’d have to ask my good friend George C. about the TV habits in Augusta, Paul.
bucky oneil
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
Ronnie Stoneman was the ironing lady. Helluva bajo picker.
TTTT-Thumbody Thed Thats Thupid!
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
If we only knew if Takashi Saito’s middle initial was “T” that would be the greatest of all time!
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
Beachy against Kendrick, HOG IN DOUGLAS.