Two class acts send different messages

Mike Lowell is a beloved champion in Boston.

Roy Halladay is beloved in Toronto and has a good chance of being a beloved champion in Philadelphia.

They have both won over fans through their gritty play and the way they handle themselves with grace and class. Each popped up in the news today.

Halladay thanked the fans, the Blue Jays and the city of Toronto for the support they gave him for the past 15 years:

"I am sincerely grateful for the incredible support and compassion the Blue Jays fans have always shown me," he states in the ad. "I am in awe of your overwhelming passion."

I assume that Toronto Sun columnist Brett Clarkson speaks for the majority of Blue Jays fans when he wrote:

Philadelphia is one lucky town.
[...]
Here's hoping Roy gets what he deserves during his time in City of Brotherly Love -- a World Series ring.

Unless of course, he finds himself in a rematch of the 1993 World Series.

It's rare to see a mega star like Halladay leave a town without some sort of resentment, but Blue Jays fans seem to overwhelmingly blame the organization for his loss. And Halladay has been very careful to be grateful to his roots while making it clear that his decision to leave was not about them or money. He's a ballplayer who wants an opportunity to win, which he was not going to get in Toronto.

I hope he gets that ring. Unless, of course, he finds himself in a rematch of the 1915 World Series.

Mike Lowell, meanwhile, seems to critique the way the Red Sox handled his thumb injury, saying that he would have preferred to have the surgery in October and that the Red Sox were aware that he was hurt before the season ended:

"I was in constant communication with the training staff," Lowell said. "This did not crop up anywhere. I told them two weeks later, four weeks later and seven weeks later until I finally got the MRI."

Lowell also disputes the Red Sox' assertion that the injury wasn't a point of emphasis in the team's exit interview.

"It definitely was [brought up]," he said. "You have to understand the exit interview is the last day and it was hurting at the time. That's where I defer to the medical staff. If they had told me to get an MRI that day, I would have done it."

Lowell didn't criticize management for attempting to trade him, but it will be interesting to see whether this entire episode festers some resentment. Whatever happens, I bet that if and when Mike Lowell leaves, he will make certain that he will leave on good terms with the fans of Boston.

[Photo credit: Toronto Sun]