Mike Lowell Is Retired, Likely Will Need Hip Replacement Surgery

Anyone holding out hope that they'd see Mike Lowell play another game in the big leagues should probably start lighting candles for something else.

Lowell spoke with Rob Bradford of WEEI.com on the eve of the 2011 season and confirmed that he won't be playing baseball again. He said he's "surprisingly happy" about the way he feels given the situation, which isn't all that surprising when you hear him talk about his current condition of his hip.

"Without medication or pain management I don't think I can run 50 yards right now, I know I can't. I don't want to be taking meds to go about my day-to-day life. I feel like my quality of life is going down a little bit. I want to teach my kid how to run the bases in Little League instead of just standing there. It seems trivial but it bothers me that I can't do it."

Lowell probably needs another hip surgery this year to correct those problems and he hopes the operation will eliminate the arthritic condition that causes him a great deal of pain. He's also made peace with the fact that he's going to need hip replacement surgery at some point in the future.

Lowell doesn't regret going through the amount of pain in his hip that it took for him to play in 2010, nor does he regret the amount of medication needed to deal with it even if he knows it wasn't exactly the wisest course of action for his long-term health. Lack of regret aside, he did tell Bradford that he doesn't think he would have done it again this year even if he had turned in a better season for the Red Sox.

"Let's say I went and had a great year, I still think I would have retired. I don't think the numbers would have determined. I think the point in my life would have determined it."

After two world titles, four All-Star Games and a Gold Glove, it's easy to see how Lowell reached the point where retirement became an easy choice. The deterioration of his hip probably helped push him to his final decision, but it wasn't hard to see the writing on the wall.