Lackey opens his mouth...and teeth

Jonah Hill could play John Lackey in a movie (photo
courtesy of snakerati.com)

Last night after the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series, John Lackey took out his frustrations with his inferior team on the victorious Red Sox.

Lackey said, "We lost to a team that's not better then us."

Really? Let's break this down for John Lackey who looks more like Jonah Hill of Superbad fame (pictured right), then a professional athlete.

John-Boy, here's why the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are not a better team then the Boston Red Sox:

1. The Red Sox beat you last night!

2. The Red Sox 6-9 batters hit .317 in the series, Angels 6-9 batters hit .145 in the series

3. The Angels had four crucial errors in the series to the Red Sox one.

4. For the series, the Red Sox pitching staff had a 2.54 ERA, while the Angels pitching staff had a 4.19 ERA

5. Closers: K-ROD line: 0-1/ 7.71ERA/ 2.1IP/ 1HR/ 2K-2B    Papelbon line: 1-0/1S/ 0.00ERA/ 5IP/ 7K-1BB

6. Besides Torrii Hunter, Angels hitters had three hits with runners in scoring position during the series.

7. The Angels' trade deadline acquisition, Mark Tiexiera, may have batted .467.  But he had no extra-base hits and 1 RBI. Red Sox trade deadline acquisition, Jason Bay, hit .412 with four extra-base hits (2 HR) and 5 RBIs.

8. Head to Head:
Lackey - 0-1/ 2.63ERA/ 13.2IP/ 6K-4BB
Lester- 1-0/ 0.00/ 14IP/ 11K-3BB

9. The Red Sox are defending World Series champs!

Obviously John Lackey didn't have time to review those nine points before making his bone-headed comment after last night's defeat.  If Lackey was alluding to the Angels 8-1 record for the Red Sox this season, he may have wanted to consider a few factors in those games:

1. Clay Buccholz started and lost two of those games.

2. David Ortiz did not play in three of those games.

3. Kevin Youkilis did not play in one of those games.

4. Craig Hansen pitched in four of those games, losing one.

5. Kevin Cash was the starting catcher in two of those games.

As for the Angels having five more wins then the Red Sox during the regular season, this can also be slightly devalued. Fifty-three percent of the Angels 100 wins were against sub-.500 teams, while only 37% of the Red Sox 95 wins came against sub-.500 teams.

All in all, when it matters the Red Sox are a better team then the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Sorry, Jonah...I mean John.