Former MLBer Mike Lowell 'not sad' Castro is dead

Former big-league player and 2007 World Series MVP Mike Lowell's stance on Fidel Castro hasn't changed over the past decade.

After the Cuban dictator passed away Friday, Lowell - who told the Boston Herald in 2006 he hoped Castro would die because he had family members killed during the former politician's regime - discussed how he felt with Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.

"I'm not sad he's dead," Lowell said. "Move on and if this helps change that regime, their thought process or something, it's better for the Cuban people. I think everybody should pursue what they want to make them happy. That's basically the bottom line. I don't think a country should have a say in what you want to make out of your life."

Lowell's father was jailed by Castro for 15 years after not showing support for the dictator's regime, which obviously left the former Boston Red Sox player with ill feelings toward the 17th president of Cuba, as he even compared him to Adolf Hitler.

"Some would put Castro above Hitler, and why? Because they're not Jewish. It's what you relate to. It's what hits home a little bit more," Lowell explained. "I'm not saying Castro is worse than Hitler, or Hitler is worse than Castro. I don't want to get into the atrocities of Hitler because that's possibly the abomination of the world as a human being. But I think Cubans view that as someone who is trying to eliminate everyone who was against what he thought, and he did it to his own Cuban people. If you told me it was a country of people coming in to take over your country, I understand. But it was within your own country. I think that's a much more damaging and a much more savage way to go about things."

Lowell retired from baseball after the 2010 season, following a career that included two World Series titles in 2003 and '07, four All-Star appearances, and a career slash line of .279/.342/.464 with 223 home runs and 952 RBIs.