FORT MYERS, Fla. – There was Dustin Pedroia, insisting he was all about the Boston Red Sox for the moment before going “international” starting Monday. Across the clubhouse stood David Ortiz, speaking to the pressures facing the Dominicans participating in the World Baseball Classic. Kevin Youkilis was packing, and Jason Bay reminisced about the street hockey games Team Canada would play after WBC workouts.

Mike Lowell sat in the middle of the room, eating cereal while getting ready to start yet another spring training day. He wasn’t going anywhere, his surgically-repaired hip had made sure of that.

Destiny had been derailed, and Sunday morning’s clubhouse chaos had delivered that message clearer than ever before. Lowell would not be playing for Team Puerto Rico in the WBC.

“It would have been wonderful, but it’s something I can handle without any problems.”

Those words come not from Lowell, but rather his father, Carl, whose importance in this story is undeniable.

Carl Lowell is a baseball-playing icon in Puerto Rico, having been inducted into two athletic Hall of Fames on the island. The stories regarding the elder Lowell’s achievements as a pitcher still resonate, stretching from his triumph over Cuba in the Pan-American Games to the subsequent refusal to get off the team bus to shake the hand of Fidel Castro.

He was born in California, grew up in Cuba, and didn’t move to Puerto Rico until his 11^th birthday, but among those who have followed Puerto Rican baseball for some time few are more recognizable than Lowell.

“I said 30 years ago that there’s not a guy that wore a Puerto Rican uniform with more pride than I did that was born on the island. It’s an honor,” said Carl, whose commitment to Team Puerto Rico was exemplified by the fact he left for an international tournament the day after his son, Mike, was born. “If you were born there it’s less of an honor than if you were an outsider who was picked for the team, in my opinion.”

Carl Lowell’s hypothesis was supported by Mike’s enthusiasm toward playing in the WBC. After choosing to focus on succeeding with his new team, the Red Sox, during the last WBC in 2006, the third baseman made it clear almost immediately that when ’09 rolled around he would be playing for Puerto Rico.

“Not to downplay it, but you could see what was more important to my career and that being with the Red Sox,” Mike Lowell said. “Looking back, I’ve been asked this a lot of times in Puerto Rico, did I regret the decision and the answer is no, it was the right decision at the time.”

That was then, and this was supposed to be now.

“I think (Carl) was just as excited as I was,” Lowell said. “That would have been a proud moment. He spent all that time playing ball and representing Puerto Rico, so to have your son have that same chance has to be a pretty proud moment. He’s pretty emotional, so if he would have seen it I would imagine there would have been some tears, in a good way.”

The Lowells weren’t alone in their excitement regarding the prospects of Mike playing in the second WBC. He had been born in Puerto Rico, and grew up in Coral Gables, Fla.. But while there were some phone calls placed to Carl upon his son’s decision not to play in ’06, the messages picked up dramatically after the Sox slugger became the first Puerto Rican born player to win the World Series MVP since Roberto Clemente (1971).

“Now you see the newspapers in Puerto Rico, when he does well they put him on the front page,” Carl Lowell said. “He has been accepted as a son of Puerto Rico, which surprised the hell out of me because he never played winter league and has never been there more than a week or two to visit his grandparents. But they love him.

“I appreciate the fact he is recognized and they have accepted him. But the fact is that when the guy is good he is one of yours and if the guy stunk he would be a Cuban.”

Then came the injury, and the phone calls to Carl picked up.

The family’s connections, along with the media, in Puerto Rico wanted to know if the left side of their WBC team’s infield was going to stay intact after Lowell was faced with hip surgery.

Much to their dismay, the Lowells knew the answer.

“Right after the surgery when I sat down with the doctors and trainers and mapped out the offseason we were hoping for the best but I think we knew it was going to be kind of a long-shot to play,” Mike Lowell said.

“I know a lot of my dad’s friends that he has maintained contact with who were in the baseball federation, they asked if they thought I would play and they were respectful of my decision. That made things a little easier. They called him more than they called me, asking about me. Their desire, as well as my dad and myself, was to play.

“If I would have to save world, yeah I would play. I feel better now than I did in the second half of last season. But if it is a tournament that could jeopardize the year that I get paid for, I say no way. I have to be realistic. I can’t jeopardize my career.”

These days, Carl Lowell’s coming to grips with the demise of his dream – that of seeing his son wear the uniform with ‘Puerto Rico’ emblazed across the front – has become tolerable thanks to those almost-every-day reports. Mike, he is told via phone conversations, is health is improving each day, and that is well worth cancelling that trip to watch his old team get after it in the WBC.

“It’s something we were looking forward to and we as a family was looking forward to seeing him play. But you have to be smart about things also,” Carl Lowell said. “I can understand the team not wanting him to play after the kind of surgery he had and considering the investment of money that they have. Michael would have loved to play for Puerto Rico but I don’t think he would have been very happy if he got injured and had to sit out six months.

“Yes, it’s been a disappointment to a certain degree, but I’m more happy about the way Mikey has been progressing. He’s very happy with his progress. I got a whole bunch of calls from friends of mine, and people in the press expressing their disappointment but understanding why. People who are very near and dear to me over there in the baseball world were extremely understanding, which made it easier for me. I thought they were going to give me a hassle.”

For Mike, Carl, and their fans in Puerto Rico it is understood – one dream has died, but only in the interest in building another one in the near future.

Rob Bradford is the site editor of WEEI.com. He can be reached at rbradford@weei.com.