John Lackey: 4 Reasons Why Red Sox Nation Should Cut Him Some Slack

OK folks, enough is enough. It’s time to cut John Lackey some slack.

Doesn’t anyone else out there share even a smidgen of guilt for crucifying this man over the past few months?

I know I do, especially having ripped him the way I did just last week on this website, calling him “…the poster boy for the Red Sox failure this year.”

For icing on the cake, I concluded, “If someone needs to be sacrificed on the altar of the baseball gods before good fortune returns to Fenway, well, then, Lackey should be that sacrifice.” 

I am particularly appalled at the way some in Boston (especially talk radio hosts) are almost gloating about this surgery announcement, viewing it from a selfish perspective.

Instead of acknowledging that Lackey is a fellow human being about to undergo a serious operation, some of these jackals are happy that the surgery will enable the Red Sox to spread his salary out over an extra year.

I would not wish tongue surgery on even the most obnoxious of Boston area sports talk show hosts—although I have to admit their recent actions may cause me to rethink that position.

Here are 4 reasons for giving Lackey the benefit of the doubt.

1. Tommy John Surgery Is Still a Risky and Serious Procedure

While it has prolonged many careers, the surgery also risks other complications, such as damage to the ulnar nerve.

Medical professionals call it ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction. In case you didn’t know, the surgeon replaces the damaged ligament with a tendon from somewhere else in the patient’s body (usually from the forearm, hamstring, knee or foot). 

“There is one particular injury that pitchers desperately try to avoid,” Eric Rosenhek wrote in Good Point in 2009. “It involves three words that strike fear in the heart of any hurler: Tommy John surgery. The infamous procedure is considered to be very serious as it involves a long period of recovery.” 

When Dr. Frank Jobe first performed this procedure on 31-year-old Dodgers pitcher Tommy John in 1974, he figured the odds of success were one in 100.

John returned to baseball in 1976 and pitched for another 13 years, winning 182 games after the surgery.

Today, according to Dr. Mike Reinold, head trainer for the Red Sox, “…success rates are close to 85-92 percent in elite pitchers.” 

It’s still not something to wish on anyone.

2. Lackey Is a Much Better Pitcher Than He Showed in 2011

In retrospect, it's easy to say that signing the 31-year-old Lackey was a huge mistake. However, at the time the deal was made, Red Sox fans were excited to have him. At the end of 2009, Lackey was one of the best pitchers in the American League.

From 2005 through 2009 with the Angels, he was 69-38 with a 3.49 ERA. That includes a great 2007 season, when he won 19 games with a league-leading 3.01 ERA. He made the All-Star team that year, and finished third in Cy Young Award balloting.

New Red Sox GM Ben Cherington re-emphasized this point in his October 25 press conference, saying "…[Lackey] knows that he's a much better pitcher than what he showed in 2011. I believe he's going to be a much better pitcher than what he showed in 2011, and we look forward to having him as part of the staff, likely in 2013." 

Whether or not he is a member of the Red Sox staff in 2013, chances are that he will pitch better than he did in 2011.

3. The Man Played Through Pain, and Did Not Use His Injury as an Excuse

This is an era in which some overpaid prima donnas have been known to take themselves out of a lineup because of a hangnail or a headache. John Lackey has proven to be the opposite.

Despite obvious problems with his elbow, he took the ball every fifth day and tried to do his job. Cherington also credited Lackey’s toughness during the surgery announcement, saying how he pitched through difficult circumstances in 2011.

Even if the results weren’t pretty, he did not use his increasingly problematic throwing arm as an excuse. He would accept the hammering by the fans and the media, and go out and do it again on his next turn. In retrospect, and from oblique comments from his teammates, it is apparent that he was hurting more than he let on.

Former Red Sox pitcher Dick Drago told me that he, for one, admired Lackey’s courage, and he understood how his grittiness would earn him added respect in the clubhouse.

“As a professional I’d feel obligated to keep trying as long as I thought I could still get batters out,” he said. “I see Lackey as the same type of person.”

4. To a Man, His Teammates Have Stood Up for Him

This may seem puzzling to outside observers, especially after he seemed to show up his teammates on the field for fielding miscues. 

But none of those teammates have thrown him under the bus, and they’ve been given many chances to do so.

Appearing on Boston’s WEEI on October 20, Buchholz said, “He’s a good clubhouse guy, and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet in your life.”

Despite being pushed by interviewer Lou Merloni, Buchholz did not rise to the bait. “We took it with a grain of salt,” he said. “That’s the way [Lackey] has always been.”

In his swan song press conference, former manager Terry Francona also vehemently defended Lackey, saying the pitcher’s emotional outbursts on the mound were not a divisive force in the clubhouse.

So, if the people who know him best (and whose opinion matters most) are defending Lackey, why should we not give him the benefit of the doubt?