60 wins

I was invited to the Jason Varitek putt-putt event that took place Thursday night and sat in a spot where I had the perfect view of John Lackey interacting with the fans most of the evening.  He was really great.  Smiling, mini-golfing, taking pictures with everyone – especially the kids there – he looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself and the contrast to how he looks when he’s pitching was stark.  Upon witnessing this, I remarked “I really like John Lackey when he isn’t on the baseball field”.

Now that isn’t to say that I don’t like John Lackey.  I’ve made it clear here that I supported the team getting Lackey and I have given him a lot of leeway on the blog.  I made a conscious decision to stop writing about him because his pitching was finally getting to the point where, although I refused to be overly critical of him, I had a difficult time defending him as well.  And then, as soon as I shut up about him, he starts settling in and getting the team some W’s.

Honestly, who among us thought that, even with the Mariners’ losing streak, a John Lackey/Felix Hernandez bill would end with Lackey getting the win and Hernandez being hung with the loss?  Not a one of us, I would suspect.  It’s really enjoyable to watch a game with John Lackey pitching where the lead-off man steals second, third and then scores and Lackey and the Red Sox still win.  Well done, Mr. Lackey.

Although, I didn’t get to watch the game in its entirety, instead I followed it on the phone and then watched NESN’s 2-hour replay at midnight. The way this Red Sox team has been performing, I’m getting greedy for postseason play this year.  I’ll be much happier when July 31st passes and I can stop wading through all the trade talks and get back to just enjoying baseball for baseball.