Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

John Lackey goes from chump to champ

BOSTON — Imagine Carl Pavano showing up in shape for Year 4 with the Yankees, 2008, and finishing it with the reputation as a bulldog, great teammate, fan favorite and — gulp — World Series hero.

This is John Lackey.

In his first three Red Sox seasons, Lackey’s reputation crumbled and his elbow broke. His ERA soared and his standing with Boston fans reached sub-Bucky Dent levels. Lackey was part of the beer-and-fried chicken crew, $82.5 million wasted, a worst supporting actor in the Red Sox’s fall.

Yet, on Wednesday night, he was being cheered off the field, a major factor in giving Red Sox fans what they had waited 34,478 days for — a championship clinched at Fenway. John Lackey — of all things — was the great symbol of the 2013 champion Red Sox. Even more than David Ortiz or Jon Lester or Dustin Pedroia.

Because of where these Red Sox came from. They had fallen to something below laughingstocks last year. They were Valentine’s Follies. The last-place Red Sox. Money for nothing. The Olde Clown Team.

Lackey didn’t even play last year, gone after Tommy John surgery. Absent and missed not at all after being bad in 2010 and possibly the worst pitcher in the majors in 2011.

But both the Red Sox and Lackey remade themselves in the offseason. Boston — after ditching the contracts of Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in August 2012 — reinvested in players with shorter pacts and larger hunger to be in Boston. Lackey showed up in Fort Myers, Fla., in February, leaner, happier, recommitted.

He meshed well within a growing Red Sox bond of facial-hair fraternity off the field and seriousness and all-around excellence on the field. Lackey returned to being the bulldog he had been with the Angels. And in this postseason — always as the “other guy” in the matchup — he beat David Price in the Division Series, Justin Verlander in the ALCS and Michael Wacha in World Series Game 6. Throw in a pivotal eighth inning of relief he authored in Game 4 — one he practically begged his manager to let him throw — and you suddenly understand how fans that loathed him 12 months ago were chanting “Lackey, Lackey, Lackey” as he pitched in the seventh inning on Wednesday.

“There are guys who play in towns like this who never bounce back [Pavano, for example],” Boston third-base coach Brian Butterfield said. “It shows how tough-minded he is.”

Even after he yielded his only run in the seventh and left with two outs and the bases loaded, Lackey returned to the dugout, bathed in a symphony of love. Once in this city, Ted Williams famously refused to acknowledge the crowd trying to bid him adieu. Lackey, though, tipped his cap and the faithful only grew louder. It was pretty much the sound track of Fenway. For Lackey and a team that, like him, rose from the depths of 69-93, won back their fans and won the 109th World Series.

“His turnaround mirrored the organization, no question,” Boston manager John Farrell said. “I don’t know if it was baseball gods, but it was fitting that he was on the mound tonight.”

Lackey became the first pitcher to ever win championship clinchers for two teams, having done the same as a rookie for the 2002 Angels. His 6²/₃ innings of one-run ball and the grinding Red Sox offense brought a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals. And also brought the organization its first title celebrated on home turf since Sept. 11, 1918 — and the Fenway faithful partied in a way befitting a wait of 95 years, one month and 19 days.

That title was the fourth in seven years for the Red Sox and the fifth since the World Series began in 1903. Once again, Boston is enjoying the start of a century. This was the Red Sox’s third title since 2004. The 86 years between 1918 and 2004 did not go quite as well. I heard there were books written about it.

As there almost certainly will be about these Red Sox, who should serve as a beacon to the rest of the sport about getting knocked down, but not out. From the despondency of 2012 came the euphoria of 2013. Yes, they had a large payroll again. But this roster was conceived — mainly — on a strong farm system and brilliant moves that loaded the roster with hungry professionals. Which is within the reach of any franchise.

“We earned a lot of scrutiny and criticism [last year],” general manager Ben Cherington said. “We had a group that came back that was really motivated to write a different story. … [Lackey] was one of the guys who wanted to write a different story.”

The Red Sox had rallied back from last year, from two-to-one down in this Series. From pain to champagne. Lackey — Boston’s Pavano previously — left to a standing ovation. He symbolized the team. Down, but not out.

Chump to champ.