How appropriate that the man on the mound for the Red Sox was John Lackey, a happily married man who treats free passes like the plague.
In four extremely efficient innings against the New York Mets, Lackey did not walk a batter and has now gone nine scoreless innings this spring without issuing a base on balls.
"I don't walk too many people, honestly," Lackey said. "I kind of expect that of myself."
It wasn't always the case for the big righty, however.
Lackey ranked sixth in the American League in walks in both 2006 and 2007, issuing at least three for every nine innings. While those ratios were not horrendous, his improvement since then helped make him into the pitcher Boston wanted for $82.5 million.
In the three years since Lackey's walk totals peaked, his ratio of free passes per nine innings dropped to 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4, coinciding with the best strikeout-to-walk ratios of his career.
Facing the Mets on Wednesday, Lackey threw 28 of 39 pitches for strikes and made innings go by in a heartbeat, working quickly and keeping his defenders on their toes. The value of such pace was evident in the fourth inning, when a comebacker glanced off Lackey and trickled toward Adrian Beltre at third base.
Charging the second the ball was hit, Beltre was able to scoop up the ball and fire an off-balance strike to first base, barely nipping ex-Red Sox infielder Alex Cora with a play that became all the buzz after the game.
"Pretty awesome play by AB, though. Dude can play," Lackey said. "I'm going to need [good defense] especially, because I'm going to pound the strike zone. I'm not going to walk people and I need those guys to make plays for me. It's fun to have confidence in the guys behind you that you can pound the strike zone and not worry about strikeouts, and you know those guys are going to make plays."
In a beautiful use of two negatives to make a positive, manager Terry Francona said "there's not much to not like" about Lackey, and echoed his new starter's sentiments about having trust in those behind him.
"He let 'em put it in play, threw his breaking ball for strikes, threw everything for strikes," Francona said. "[He was] down in the zone, he let our defense work. That was fun to watch.
"With a guy like Lackey pitching, he gets it, he throws strikes, he works quick. You're going to see guys play great defense."
For Lackey, this spring was all about starting off on a healthy note; he was injured each of the last two springs and did not start both seasons until May. The early effectiveness in 2010 — which includes just five hits allowed in those nine shutout innings — is a big bonus.
Near the end of the game, our man with the signs had begun to hold up a new banner. This one simply said, "Happy St. Patrick's Day."
When you don't walk anybody, it is.
