Mike Lowell Spirals Downward....

Even the great Mickey Mantle was washed up when he reached the ripe old age of 32. The circumstances are different, but as Boston's Mike Lowell reaches the Mick's retirement age the ex-Marlin prompts considerable concern as to whether he is on track to become one of those players like Mantle or say, Robbie Alomar, whose skills suddenly diminish like a baseball rolling off the edge of a table. It's spooky how observers keep using the same word to describe Lowell as they did to describe Alomar: "sluggish." Hopefully Boston's strong lineup and a much better park for hitters will help stave off Lowell's decline, but how much and for how long and will it be enough?