COMMENTARY
Three springs ago, when John Henry existed as something more than a quote on the occasional press release, the owner of the Red Sox (and Boston Globe Media Partners, which includes Boston.com) said something quite bright.
“We really don’t need to be popular,” he told reporters at his annual media briefing in Florida. “We need to win.”
At that time, he’d already been through multiple cycles of public sentiment calling his ownership unsalvageable, that he’d have to sell the team to save face. John Lackey had gone from pariah to winning pitcher in a World Series clincher.