Craig Calcaterra points to this TMZ article about John Lackey divorcing his wife. While Craig concentrates on the attacks on Lackey for divorcing a wife with cancer, I’m more interested in this (quote from John Lackey after the game):
“Let me tell you the truth. Thirty 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. I shouldn’t even have to be standing up here dealing with it. I’m sitting here, listening to music. I don’t know who got my phone number, but that’s over the line. Anything else you want to talk about?’’
I’m wondering who sent the text, and if it was intended to upset Lackey before the game so he wouldn’t pitch well. (He gave up three runs in the first inning.) The Rays and Angels are chasing the Red Sox, maybe one of their beat writers thought the text might help in catching the Red Sox. Devious.
If you receive a text message, caller ID tells you the number the text was sent from, so it should be easy enough to figure out.
When Lackey says, “I don’t know who got my phone number,” I think he’s being disingenuous. All he has to do is call the number and see who answers (or call it when the reporters are gathered, and listen to it ring).
“The Rays and Angels are chasing the Red Sox, maybe one of their beat writers thought the text might help in catching the Red Sox. Devious.”
Evidence, please? I’m not great fan of sportswriters. But is there any support for this suggestion? The text message could have come from anybody in the media, if we accept Lackey’s comment.
For what it’s worth, Gordon Edes is reporting: “There were indications Sunday night that a celebrity/gossip website had sent him the text message, but that could not be confirmed.”
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7021443/boston-red-sox-john-lackey-enraged-text-message
Who knows? But it does seem a leap to suggest that a rival team’s beat writer did the deed.
Casey Abell » It seems to me that if the gossip site sent the text, Lackey would not be mad at the reporters there, unless he thought one of them gave out his phone number. Who knows, it might have been a former teammate on the Angels who supplied the number, knowing it might spook John. The Angels really needed the Red Sox to lose last night.
“Who knows, it might have been a former teammate on the Angels who supplied the number, knowing it might spook John. The Angels really needed the Red Sox to lose last night.”
Once again. Evidence, please? Is there anything to support this suggestion that a former teammate was involved?
Casey, evidence that it *might* have been a former teammate? What are you getting at? The evidence that it *might* have been a former teammate is that nothing rules out its being a former teammate who supplied the number. (That’s how the word “might” works!)
David didn’t say that it *was* a former teammate, obviously.
The general point here is that there are some puzzling things about the story which get explained by the hypothesis that someone was intentionally undermining Lackey. Why would someone text him such a disturbing thing at such an important moment? How did they get his number? Why was Lackey angry at the press?
None of this is proof! It’s just enough to raise the question of whether it was done maliciously.
If you’re going to make such serious “suggestions”, shouldn’t there be at least some support? Boston baseball reporters close to the team are saying (or strongly implying) that the text came from a gossip site. Peter Abraham writes flatly:
“Lackey had an angry postgame press conference, accusing an unnamed reporter — later learned to be a gossip columnist not affiliated with the baseball media — of sending him a text message about a personal issue before the game.”
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/09/wrapping_it_up_27.html
At least I’ve provided reports from Gordon Edes and Peter Abraham, two fairly well-respected reporters, which either imply or state outright that the text came from a gossip site and had nothing to do with the baseball media. Or any nefarious plot to undermine Lackey’s performance.
Okay, maybe these guys are just covering for their fellow sportswriters. Doubtful, if you ask me. But so far I’ve seen nothing to support the idea of a conspiracy by baseball players and/or writers to influence the wild card race.
Well Casey how did the gossip site get Lackey’s phone number?
Casey, can I ask you why you emphasize “suggestions” and put it in quotation marks? You seem to be saying that either I or Pinto called what we are saying “suggestions”. But that is *your* word. I never called any of these ideas “suggestions”.
I’m sure there’s no conspiracy of sports writers. But what was Lackey so angry at them for, if the text came from some gossip site? I think that’s the question David was driving at.
Really, I think you have an unreasonably high standard for someone’s raising a possibility. That’s very different from drawing a conclusion.
Okay, if you want to call it an “idea” instead of a “suggestion,” I’ve got no problem with the terminology. But this was David’s original language:
“I’m wondering who sent the text, and if it was intended to upset Lackey before the game so he wouldn’t pitch well. (He gave up three runs in the first inning.) The Rays and Angels are chasing the Red Sox, maybe one of their beat writers thought the text might help in catching the Red Sox. Devious.”
Whether you call this an idea, a suggestion or a doohickey, no evidence has been supplied to support the involvement of the baseball media.
Meanwhile, I’ve referenced two published reports – love that phrase – from experienced and respected baseball writers close to the Red Sox. Those reports either imply or state flatly that the text came from a gossip site with no involvement by the baseball media.
As for how Lackey’s phone number was obtained, I haven’t seen much of anything anywhere. Certainly, I’ve seen no evidence that a former teammate of Lackey’s was involved.
Well, as I said, it’s a matter of raising a possibility, rather than drawing a conclusion. So, right, doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as that part is clear.
The reason the possibility is worth raising is that the alternatives so far broached do not explain the data. They do not explain why Lackey was so mad at the assembled reporters, and they do not explain why the text was sent to him just minutes before his most important start of the season. So, that seems like enough of a reason not to simply accept the alternative accounts. Maybe they’re true and there’s some other explanation of the so-far unexplained facts. But there’s some reason to wonder, and to consider the other possibilities, despite there being no independent evidence for those possibilities.
Whatever. This was just Lackey’s excuse de jour. With his teams season on the line, he gets rattled by a text message? If he’s really divorcing a cancer-stricken wife, I don’t see how a text message makes things worse…