It's always difficult for any player to lose their job due to injury, but that's the danger that awaits Julio Lugo if Jed Lowrie blossoms as a shortstop over the next six weeks. Despite Lowrie's impressive college and minor league pedigree, the only way to prove you can play a Major League shorstop is by flawlessly fielding a grounder in the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium in a 1-0 nail-biter.

Lowrie will get plenty of chances to prove himself, and the Sox will be able to explore any and all options out there at shortstop -- while also knowing that teams like the Orioles and Tigers are also looking for shortstops. Here's a conversation I had with Lugo a few weeks back, and there's some interesting insight in Manny Ramirez as a teammate and Lugo's mindset as a Major League Ballplayer. It's easy to forget that he was the lowest Houston Astros draft pick to ever make it to the Majors, and he's had to prove people wrong through his entire baseball career. He know will find himself once again proving the doubters wrong -- this time it will be the doubters that think he'll have a hard time reclaiming the starting shortstop when he recovers from the torn left quad.

Here's the Q and A:



Looking back at playing in New York City, what are your memories from those days?
JL: I remember back in those days we used to play on the first field in the league. It was a place called the Prairie Grounds and it was real bad. It was rough, and it was a really tough neighborhood. Both in Youth Services and on my high school team, we played on some really bad fields and it was tough, but there were some good players on those teams. That’s what stands out the most.

What did you learn most playing at that period of your life?
JL: That time of life was difficult for me because I had just moved to New York from the Dominican. It was hard and I didn’t really understand English. It was hard for me to get around. I was a tough kid and it was hard getting through. You’ve got to be tough to be a baseball player and get through that kind of thing.

Was baseball almost an escape for you at that point of time in your life?
JL: For me it was. There were a lot of bad things around me. I used to play for three teams at the same time. All day, all the time. There were a lot of bad things and peer pressure. [Baseball] was a good way to keep me away from a lot of things that I didn’t want to be doing. You always play baseball and you’re always staying busy and when you get home you’re tired.

Was it basically that trouble was right outside your door when you were growing up in New York?
JL: Yeah, there were gangs and people getting shot. I stayed away from that by just playing. A lot of my friends would invite me to parties, but I would be like ‘No, I’ve got to get up and play tomorrow.’ And I give my friends a lot of credit because they said ‘okay, you go.’ By playing I was able to stay away from that stuff because if I wouldn’t have been playing then I would have been getting into the same stuff that they did.

Who taught you the game? Was it your dad?
JL: You know, I’ve thought about that one a little bit. My dad did a little bit in the beginning when I was young, but my parents got divorced pretty early. I just loved baseball since the beginning, man, and I just practiced myself. We used to have a real small apartment in New York with my mother and my two brothers and I’d be practicing inside all the time. I used to practice my swing in the house in the living room. I’d be banging the baseball against the front office and I used to hear people in my neighborhood all the time yelling ‘Stop it!” I’d be banging balls against the door and the walls. My mom used to let me be, so that’s how I learned.

Was it good for you as a baseball player to come to New York rather than stay in the Dominican?
JL: Well, to play baseball it would have been better to stay in the Dominican. I used to live right next door to a stadium and I used to have a lot of people that taught me how to play. I was really young, but I came to New York at 13 and that’s a time when you’re really learning how to play the game. I had a lot of friends that played, but nobody that was really teaching me until I went to Youth Services [a New York City summer baseball program aimed at underprivileged Dominican immigrants in the city].

Did you have a group of players that you grew up admiring?
JL: Oh yeah. I used to love Tony Fernandez. He was a great shortstop. I used to love Manny Ramirez. Manny was the man. I used to love Barry Larkin. Then I make it to the big leagues and I’m playing against these guys. I remember one day me and my father were watching the game – and I think I was 11 years-old – and I remember Doc Gooden was pitching. And then a couple of years later I’m sitting in a clubhouse with Doc Gooden and I can’t even believe it. I remember seeing him and I didn’t even want to talk to him because he was a such a big name when he was in spring training with the Astros for a little while. I couldn’t even hold it back because it was so great to just see him there when me and my dad used to watch him on TV.

When you first placed in the Youth Services, was Manny somebody that they always talked about?
JL: Whenever Manny came up to the plate everybody is like watching Manny, and they were watching everything that he did. He was so serious and he knew what he wanted to do. It was amazing. There were times he would take batting practice and he wouldn’t hit any balls and he’d be like ‘Oh man, I feel good.’ Because he was working on one thing and nobody else would be working on anything like that. He was working at a totally different level than everybody else and way ahead of everybody. I didn’t play with Manny, but I hear it from people and I used to watch him with the big guys. I’d watch him play and he’d hit balls way to left field foul and he’d hit balls way up to centerfield everywhere. He was always really relaxed, comfortable and confident.

Any stories about Manny that come to mind when you think about him?
JL: I remember our coach used to be really hard on kids and when you did something bad he would make you run. I remember one time he made Manny run so much that he ran until he fainted. He threw up and fainted and that’s when he stopped.

Was Mel [the Youth Services coach] tough to play for?
JL: He could be tough on the players but he wasn’t tough to play for. He was tough on players to get better and get to the next level. It was tough because he would make you run and make you do stuff, but he was trying to make you better. As a kid you didn’t really understand it…it was impossible. To go to the next level or if you know you want to be there, you need to understand that he was trying to make you better.

Did you ever, as a kid, watch Manny play when he was with the Indians?
JL: I never went to Yankee Stadium, but I went to go watch him play at Double-A and he was with the Indians and he hit a home run to straightaway centerfield. The crowd starting going crazy. I remember that, and I still have the bats at my house.
One day when I was in the minor leagues I went to go watch Manny play in spring training, and I saw him before the game. I went ‘Oh Manny…how are you’ and he was like ‘Oh…how are you.’ We didn’t really know each other well, but he told me he was going to give me some bats after the game. And I told all my friends. I was like ‘Oh [expletive], Manny is gonna give me some bats.’ And I was waiting outside after the game, and I thought that Manny forgot. I was like ‘man…’, but then Manny showed up a while later and he had the bats with him. I remember that and I still have the bats in my house. It felt so good, and to this day that was one of the best moments in my baseball career.

What’s it been like to play with him…a guy you always looked up to?
JL: Everybody knows about Manny and how good a hitter he is. But nobody knows about how good a person Manny is. You’ve got to be there to understand. When I was struggling last year I didn’t want to talk to anybody. But I would check my voice messages and he would leave me messages like ‘Hey don’t worry about it. You’re going to be fine. Tomorrow is your day.’ That kept me up all the time. That kept me up. It was amazing. Every time I made a play, I would turn around and he would be like pointing at me. He stole my heart, man. People don’t see it on the outside, but he really cares about me. He cares about everyone.

Does that perception about him surprise you given how he is with you?
JL: It’s surprising because he don’t say much and he doesn’t express his feelings that much. You’ve got to be real close to him for him to express his feelings. But I never hear Manny say anything negative. If something negative happens, he’ll be like ‘don’t waste your energy on it.’

People that know Manny say that he was no idea how good he really is.
JL: He just wants people to leave him alone and let him be who he is. There is nobody in this game better than him…nobody…and he knows that.

Is he the best hitter you’ve ever seen?
JL: No doubt. Manny was lost last year, and I’m telling you because he told me. When I’m lost I hit .150 or .200, but now him. He’s in good shape, but he really turned it on this year.

Are you a guy that’s always had to prove people wrong at every level? I know you were the lowest Astros draft pick that’s ever made it to the Majors.
JL: Let me tell you something. I’m not supposed to be here. I always have people doubting me. Even now. I still have people doubting me, and I feel like even if my name is at the top of the list people will still be doubting me. I make a couple of errors and people right away say ‘oh he’s going to make 50 errors this year.’ Always people doubt me, but that makes me stronger because I prove everybody wrong. I’m not supposed to be the starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox; I wasn’t supposed to be the starting shortstop for the Houston Astros. I wasn’t supposed to be the starting shortstop for Tampa Bay, and now I’m here. People always doubted me.
The season I had last year, when I was hitting .180 at the halfway a lot of people would have died. I know what I can do. Sometimes you’ve got to understand that you go through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff. People have always doubted me…always.

Did that help you through the struggles in your career?
JL: Absolutely. Those moments make you strong, and you know what you can do and what you’re capable of. As an athlete and as a human being, you’ve got to understand that you’re going to struggle and that you are good. The confidence has to be there. I’ve done it before. I hit my way into the big leagues. I didn’t come over because of my range or my fielding.