John Lackey caught double-fisting beers in the clubhouse
John Lackey is back in the beer-drinking habit while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. (Bob DeChiara-US PRESSWIRE)
There are many aspects of last September’s collapse that have continued for the Red Sox throughout this season. The Sox still lack a consistent starting rotation, still can’t find that clutch hit, and still can’t figure out how to win a string of games without then embarking on a multi-game losing streak.
One detail from last September that Sox fans might have expected had been taking care of, however, is the drinking in the clubhouse. The fried-chicken eating, beer-drinking habits of starting pitchers enjoying an off-day looked to be gone for good when Bobby Valentine banned alcohol from the clubhouse back in Spring Training.
But according to a story by CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty, at least one starting pitcher is still drinking beer (albeit Bud Light) in the clubhouse.
As Haggerty wrote in his latest column, 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.
So much for the Bobby Valentine ban on alcohol in the Sox clubhouse that was implemented during spring training.
Lackey will not be a factor for the Red Sox this season. He had Tommy John surgery over the winter and is only traveling with the team so that he can work out with trainer Mike Reinold. His drinking will not ruin a start for him or show he is not focusing the way he should be on pitching. And according to a tweet from the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, Sox players are allowed to drink beer after road games with their postgame meal.
But does the beer in the clubhouse point to a larger issue? The Red Sox have not managed to shake off any of the issues they endured last September, and part of the reason for that could very well be that the players responsible are mostly all still in Boston, the front office has not initiated any moves to shake up the team (closer Jonathan Papelbon left on his own), and apparently, rule-breaking or bending is still very much a part of this team’s culture.
And so as the losses continue to pile up, it looks like Red Sox fans still have at least another year to wait – for their team to improve, for attitudes to change, and for a chance at rooting for a playoff team.
