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Fennelly Column: Good Or Bad, An Amazing Ride For Lugo

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2007

DENVER - It was past midnight, mountain time, and there were still reporters surrounding the Boston Red Six shortstop, peppering him with questions about those key plays he made in Game 3 of the World Series, or putting the past behind him, or being one win away from winning it all.

He went 0-for-33 at one point this season. He hit .089 in June.

He heard it from a demanding baseball town.

''Man, a lot of boos,'' Julio Lugo said with a grin.

Now he's the starting shortstop on an impending world champion after the Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 10-5 on Saturday night at Coors Field.

No more boos.

''It's been an amazing ride,'' Julio Lugo said.

His ride, of course, took him through Tropicana Field as a Devil Ray, where he made good on the faith the Rays showed in him. Julio Lugo delivered, on the field and in the clubhouse, until the Rays decided they couldn't pay him what he wanted in the market.

It wasn't the wrong call.

But it worked out pretty well for Lugo, too.

''I'll tell you why,'' Lugo's friend and Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said. ''It's because he's strong.''

Last season, when the Rays traded him, Lugo went to Los Angeles, where he never fit in, and then to Boston as a free agent, for four years at $36 million. A lot more went with it. There was the spotlight.

And when you're hitting .197 on July 12, the spotlight can be brutal.

''The boos,'' Lugo said. ''That was the low point.''

He added, ''It's different here. Everybody knows what you do every day. You go 0-for-4 or make an error, it follows you into the next day. You get a boo in the stands, you get a boo in the paper the next day.

''But that's what you want, you want to be on the stage. In Tampa, I could go 0-for-4 and go home and nobody seemed to remember. Here in Boston they remember. That can be bad, but when it's good, it's very good.''

He hit .197 in the 80 games before the All-Star break. But he hit .280 after the break and his defense picked up. Aside from that dropped pop in the ALCS with Cleveland, he has been mostly on in the postseason.

It's October, a land far away from all the boos. Julio Lugo is hitting .400 through three games of the World Series, with four hits and three walks.

In Boston's 10-5 win in Game 3 that put them on the brink of their second world title in four seasons, Lugo rapped a double, walked twice and scored twice. His biggest moments came in the field - a backhanded stab in the hole at short to get the force at third to end the fifth and a leaping grab to stop a Colorado rally after the Rockies had crept to within a run.

Big stage, big plays.

It's what he wanted all along.

''I don't know how committed [the Rays] were to winning right away,'' Lugo said. ''I think they'll win, but not right now. They still need some pieces. One of them was me, the shortstop position. You can got get a second baseman, you can go get a left fielder, but shortstop, man ...''

That's what Red Sox fans were thinking earlier this season as they booed Lugo. He wasn't alone. Boston's new right fielder, J.D. Drew, who signed a $70 million contract and who's making more than Ortiz this season, also heard it as he slumped. So, did rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia as he struggled at the plate in the first month of the season.

Lugo's teammates never doubted him. It helped that two of his friends and fellow Dominicans, Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, were always there to pick him up. Not that Lugo ever got that down.

''He has a lot of energy, no matter how he's doing,'' Ortiz said. ''He brings it every day.''

Lugo was a regular below the famed Mendoza Line in the first half. He began losing playing time to Alex Cora. He was even booed went he went in to pinch run.

Lugo smiled.

''But I'm strong minded.''

And the Fenway Park fans eventually relented. They actually began to yell ''Let's Go, Lugo!''

''It's hard not to like Lugie,'' Boston catcher Jason Varitek said. ''He's a great player, great attitude. He never gave up. I think it was big that our fans got behind him for the second half, Hey, we're going to give you a little ovation, push you a little bit. And it pushed him right out of it.''

Lugo finished the season with a .237 average with 73 RBI and 33 steals in 39 attempts. He's hitting .267 in the postseason.

By the way, J.D. Drew is hitting .340 in the postseason with 11 RBI and .455 in the World Series. Dustin Pedroia had three hits and two RBI in Game 3, hit a lead-off homer in Game 1 of the Series.

No more boos.

Julio Lugo has already had three more champagne baths than he ever had in Tampa Bay. The Red Sox won 96 games this season. The Rays lost 96.

''They'll get there, eventually,'' Lugo said.

Back to him.

''There's instant comfort here. Instant pressure, too, but isn't that what you want?''

It was past midnight, mountain time, and Julio Lugo was close to the summit. One more interview for TV. Lugo sat for the cameras and waited for the light to go. Then he smiled. The stage will do that to you sometimes.

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