New Market Rebels Baseball

Three VBL Alums Help Red Sox to World Series, Lowell MVP

Harrisonburg, VA, October 29, 2007—For the second year in a row, the Most Valuable Player of the Major League Baseball World Series is a Valley Baseball League alum as third baseman Mike Lowell led the Boston Red Sox to the title in 2007.

Lowell played for the Waynesboro Generals in the Valley League in 1993. Two VBL alumni were also on the Boston roster as relief pitchers for the postseason. Javier Lopez played for the New Market Rebels in 1996 and Kyle Snyder competed for the Winchester Royals in 1997.

The 2007 series marks the second straight year that a former VBL player has been named World Series MVP. In 2006, former Harrisonburg Turks infielder David Eckstein led the St. Louis Cardinals to the title.

Lowell hit .400 in 15 at bats in the series with three doubles, one home run, and four RBIs as the Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies 4-0. For the postseason, he hit .353 with 18 hits, seven doubles, two home runs, and 15 RBIs. In the regular season, he hit .324 in 154 games with 37 doubles, 21 home runs, and 120 RBIs. It was the second World Series championship for the Puerto Rican native, who also helped the Florida Marlins to a title in 2003.

Lopez appeared in five games for the Red Sox in the postseason and pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs. He appeared in one game during the World Series with two hits allowed. For the season, Lopez went 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA and ranked second for the Red Sox with 61 appearances.

Snyder did not make an appearance in the postseason for the Red Sox. During the regular season, he was 2-3 in 46 appearances with a 3.81 ERA in 54 1/3 innings.