Image Source: (Boston Herald)
 

BY KAVEH KAGHAZI

ANCHOR ANA-COMPAIN ROMERO

The soap opera continues in Boston. They’ve only won six games in their last 24, and hold a tenuous one game lead in the AL wild card.

But he latest drama in Beantown centers on a text message. Bo Sox pitcher John Lackey hurled accusations at the press when he said a reporter a got a bit too personal.

“30 minutes before the game I got a text message on my cell phone from one of you…somebody in the media talking about personal stuff, and I shouldn't even have to be up here dealing with this. I’m sitting here listening to music, I don’t know who got my phone number, but that’s over the line.”

So what was in the text that got Lackey fired up? ESPN tried, but couldn’t get it out of the nine-year vet.

REPORTER: “Did you go out distracted because of this text message?

Lackey: "This is unbelievable I’ve got to deal with this.”

So Lackey is staying mum, but plenty in the media have a theory; and it comes from the mother of all rumor mills: TMZ.

In a report released after the game, TMZ claims last month, Lackey filed for divorce from his wife, who is battling breast cancer.

Well that would be a story- and it would certainly explain Lackey’s fiery reaction. But this is still coming from TMZ, and many in the media have a hard time buying everything they sell. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says before we judge the man for anything, the truth needs to come out.

“It sounds horrible — a man divorcing his wife as she tries to beat cancer. But only Lackey and his wife know what the actual story is, if there is an actual story at all.”

But a writer from CBS sports says it’s too late for benefit of the doubt. Lackey’s bristly attitude with the media, especially this season, hasn’t bought him much good will.

“It sounds bad. Of course it does. And so many of us are inclined to believe it's bad, either because we find Lackey unnecessarily confrontational, or because we're mad about how bad he has been on the mound.

He's not exactly a sympathetic character, and wasn't, even before TMZ got involved”

Big-city athletes are always under the microscope. A Yahoo Sports blogger says performance on the field can make or break you off it. He adds a season like Lackey’s leaves fans and owners feeling shortchanged, and the press will end up evening the score.

“If Lackey thought he could post one of the worst seasons in history for an annual $16 million paycheck in Boston and not get hung out to dry, he's got another thing coming.”

The Red Sox sit one game in front of Tampa Bay with three games left in the season.