The terminally unpopular John Lackey, who's rehabbing his elbow after undergoing Tommy John surgery, recently enjoyed a couple of adult beverages following a Red Sox loss in Cleveland. You may recall, of course, that manager Bobby Valentine previously banned beer from the Boston clubhouse following last year's scandalous indulgences ...
Pearls clutched? Safely positioned over the fainting couch? Good.
As Kevin Kaduk of Big League Stew points out, Valentine's mandates, delivered in Judge Lance Ito fashion, do not prohibit drinking after road games. But that won't prevent CSNNE.com's Joe Haggerty from thundering atop Mt. Righteousness:
There were others that just don’t seem to care about wins or losses anymore.
Like John Lackey, who apparently needs to travel with the team and work with trainer Mike Reinold while recovering from Tommy John surgery – a fairly standard rehab that literally thousands of pitchers have come back from stronger-than-ever over the last 30 years.
But for whatever reason, the underachieving righty needs to travel with the team even though he won’t be throwing even one measly pitch for them.
Lackey was so busted up after the latest defeat that he was strutting around the clubhouse with a can of Bud Light in each hand, or what is known as “double-fisting” on every college campus in the history of mankind.
Only among Boston media does traveling with the team while recovering from surgery signify a lack of commitment.
I get that Lackey isn't exactly the most charismatic of ballplayers, but I'd submit that injuries have far more do with the Red Sox's place in the standings than does an injured pitcher's decision to drink two cans of the Worst Beer in the World following a loss.
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