Lester Stands Alone

I sat down at my computer and started to look at the statistics of my website. It appears that my following is based purely on my Red Sox blogs, as they have the highest hits above any other article I've written. I guess I have to give readers what they want, primarily Red Sox musings, filled in occasionally with other baseball thoughts and news. So, since that is out of the way, it is time to address the latest Red Sox revelations.

Jon Lester has gone on record stating that he had in fact drank beer and ate fried chicken in the clubhouse during his off days. He completely downplayed the beer drinking and fried chicken eating. He claimed that the pitchers only did it a "handful of times" and attributed the weight gain of the pitching staff to a hectic travel schedule and inability to eat properly at proper times.

Give me a break.

I appreciate the fact that Lester is the first (and presumably will be the ONLY) guilty party to step forward, but don't patronize Red Sox Nation. We saw the staff get fat and lazy. We (fans collectively) would not have given a damn if the pitchers did this and won, but the fact is that they lost. They lost bad. They lost historically bad.

I won't get on Lester any more than that, I'm pretty sure he's taken his share. I will say this, Lester has shown to me that he is the true ace on this team. Josh Beckett should have been the first one out of the gate with fire and vitriol to comment on the whole issue. Lester has super-ceded Beckett on this team, in my eyes.

Going on record and opening himself up to the full ridicule of the Boston media says a lot about the character of Jon Lester. He is not too far gone. He can be saved. He can straighten up. He can be the anchor of this staff and I can see him coming into camp in the best shape of his life with a chip on his shoulder. I predicted Lester would win 20 games next season (of course, this was before the whole fried chicken fiasco) but now I firmly believe he will do it. He will take the hill on opening day and be a beast.

The problem still remains with Beckett and Lackey. At this point, I could give a damn if either of them comes back next season. They let me down. They let their team down. They let fans in Boston down. They haven't come out and apologized for it. They haven't acknowledged it. They are staying away, taking the easy road. I hope that easy road just leads them both out of Boston.

Lester will be your ace, in every sense of the word next season. Wait and see.