Sports Radio Interviews

John Lackey is Really Fired Up About Going to Boston

Well the Red Sox didn’t quite execute Plan A this offseason, but Plan B is not bad at all. After Boston realized the price would be too steep in order to get Roy Halladay away from the Blue Jays, they turned their attention to the next best pitcher on the market that they thought they could acquire and only had to shell out money to get him in Beantown. That guy is John Lackey. Even though he doesn’t get the kind of attention that many of the other pitchers in baseball get, he has been tremendous the last five years for the Angels, he’s been the ace of their staff and has been a key to their postseason runs in the past half-decade. Over the last five years, Lackey has never had an ERA worse than 3.83 and has double digit wins each of the last seven seasons.

While the Red Sox still need to add a little bit more pop in their lineup, it will be hard for teams to matchup with John Lackey, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the front of the rotation. That’s quite a one-two-three punch and for the Red Sox, it makes them very scary to the rest of the American League.

John Lackey joined WEEI in Boston with Dale and Holleyto talk about coming to Boston, how he felt when he got the news and the challenges of pitching for the Red Sox.

On how much his family played into his decision to go to Boston:

“I mean it has been a little bit of a factor. It’s obviously a family decision. It’s not something that I can just make on my own. Like I said up there, winning was the biggest factor. I mean if it was a team that wasn’t good it doesn’t matter where my wife was from you know what I mean?”

On his experiences pitching in Fenway Park:

“I’m really excited for the challenge. I’ve kinda turned things around the last couple of years here. My first couple of years, obviously I’ve struggled here a little bit. The last couple of years, I’ve done well and I’m excited to have the guys on this team behind me and this fanbase. Its been crazy walking around town how many people have welcomed me to Boston and I’m just really fired up about it. To be a part of this crazy, zealous fan base, I’m pumped about it.”

On pitching in the AL East now as opposed to the AL West

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge for sure. Everybody recognizes that this is the best division in baseball. That’s just the way it is. Its going to be a challenge every night. You’re gonna go against quality teams every night, you’re gonna be going against a lot of quality teams in this division and I think I’m ready for the challenge. The bigger the game, the more fun it is and I’m really pumped about it.

“On where he wants to be placed in the rotation:

“I’m not really concerned about that at all. I think we’re going to have several guys (who) are going to be the ace for that day. Whoever goes first, the first game of the season is not that big of a deal for me. I just wanna make my 30 something starts, get this team to the playoffs and try to win a World Series. Once we get to the playoffs, it doesn’t really matter when you pitch as long as you get the chance to pitch and you get the chance to win.

“Whether or not he knew Terry Francona before he came to Boston:

“No, I really haven’t. Obviously they do their research and as a free agent, you do your own research about teams and haven’t heard a bad thing about him. I got to hang out in his office for about an hour before this press conference talking and I’m excited to play for him. Really great guy.”

Listen to John Lackey on WEEI in Boston here

Tags: Boston Red Sox, John Lackey, MLB, WEEI