Hey, John Lackey! There's No Crying in Baseball!

Alright, John, we need to talk. Put the golf clubs down for a second.

You're very upset that the Red Sox beat you in the playoffs (again). Really, though, do you have to start spouting off like this? It's one thing when we get it from LaDainian Tomlinson; we expect it from him at this point (especially when the Patriots are involved).

We think you're better than that. Well, I do anyway. I'm not sure about the rest of Boston at this point. It comes across like you're blaming the Red Sox for the failures of your team. Read this:

"[On Sunday] they scored on a pop fly they called a hit, which is a joke...[On Monday], they score on a broken-bat ground ball and a fly ball anywhere else in America [except in Fenway Park]. And [Pedroia's] fist-pumping on second like he did something great."

Rough stuff there.

I'm pretty sure your team should have made the play on that pop up. You certainly would have let them know that. You did on that broken-bat ground ball on Monday night. In fact, you were so demonstrative at your anger with your teammates, I didn't know if you were pitching or Kobe Bryant. Every miscue had you tossing your arms in the air or making some kind of face.

Even Ron Darling thought you were over the top with it. He pointed out during the game that those same guys you were fed up with probably saved you more times than not over the course of the season. Not easy to remember those when your team is choking it's 100-win season away though, is it?

You see, John, here's the problem: You weren't really that much better than Boston. Sure, in the regular season, your team looked good. 100 wins and the best record in baseball is certainly an accomplishment. And it's not your fault that the combined record of the opponents in your division was 215 wins against 270 losses. Nor is it your fault that the Angels didn't play a meaningful game over the last month of the season.

The Red Sox, John, played in a division where four of the five teams had more than 85 wins. They had 95 wins and the team that won it had 97. Up until the last week of the season, both were fighting for the division. In the process, they were keeping everyone fresh and they all had their timing down. Maybe that made up for those five fewer wins. Or maybe the tougher division accounts for it. I'm sure you don't want to argue that though.

You probably don't want to talk about the lack of offense that would have helped to mitigate the broken-bat single and routine pop up. Outside of Torii Hunter, your lineup had about as much of an attack as the French army. The collective batting averages at the bottom of the order were closer to blood-alcohol levels than the they were to the Mendoza line.

Your boys Mark Teixeira and Vlad Guerrero had the average, but combined for a total of one RBI. Even if we add Garrett Anderson into that mix, the RBI total remains at one. So much for the power in the middle of the order, right? Should we talk about the 8-for-40 with runners in scoring position? Maybe not. We probably should mention that without Hunter, again, that number would have been 3-for-29. That's important.

I'll be fair. I think you pitched well, John. You have all season. I have you on my fantasy team. You should have helped out the other guys though. Apparently, Joe Saunders didn't get the memo that he owns Boston. He could have just left before the fifth inning to beat traffic, though.

Francisco Rodriguez wasn't given much of a chance in this series. Scioscia rarely used him in a tie game all season, and game one probably proved why. 39 innings in this series, and he made an appearance in three of them. Why? Your team NEVER had the lead late.

I'm sorry if I sound bitter. I just don't like when people say stuff like this. Maybe you were the better team, and the Red Sox just got hot at the right time. They still beat you without Josh Beckett at 100 percent, without Mike Lowell, and with J.D. Drew ailing. Not to mention, Pedroia had a total of one hit in the whole series.

Beating a team once is one thing, but three times is another. 10 out of 11 is a pattern of failure.

Ok, Lack-man, I've taken up enough of your time. I'm sure you have a tee time to get to.