When asked about whether or not he and former Portland Sea Dogs teammate Hanley Ramirez (subsequently traded to the Marlins for Josh Beckett) had ever discussed their future together over pizza, Red Sox ace Jon Lester responded:
“I’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning than me and him
getting a pizza together,” Lester said. “You can take that for what it’s
worth. But there was no chance on God’s green earth that I was getting a
pizza with him.”
Not exactly the answer that we were expecting.
Lester probably should have explained what he meant at the time, but his lack of explanation has allowed for all sorts of speculation as to what he was trying to say.
The easy answer: Jon Lester isn’t a pizza guy, or maybe Ramirez isn’t.
Behind door two: Lester is such a competitor that he would never praise anybody who wasn’t wearing the same uniform as him. Still, making that so clear as this interview would be indicative of would border on insanity.
The most likely answer, though, is what we already know — that Hanley Ramirez isn’t always the easiest guy to get along with. Consistently described as immature and temperamental, particularly during his earlier years, Lester just may not have liked Ramirez very much. Even this season, Ramirez got himself benched for showing no effort on the base path, not the stuff of a good teammate.
Should Lester have said what he said? It was probably unnecessary, even if Ramirez is a wannabe A.J. Pierzynski or Terrell Owens.
Or maybe he does just hate pizza.
