Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Gone Baby Gone

We don't know the final decision about Jon Lester. So often we hear from players, "it's not about the money." Billionaire owners, surprisingly (not) offer more candor, as they couch money talk in terms of value, fiduciary responsibility, and the least honest, loyalty. 

Jon Lester talked about wanting to stay in Boston, but when dollar signs become astronomical, players find limbic pleasure center gratification prevails more than well-intended talk about hometown discounts. 

It will be easy for Lester to talk about how great his Boston experience was (absent cancer and the chicken-and-beer gang), multiple championships, and great teammates. But at the end-of-the-day, he will also share concerns about taking care of his family. I'd really be great with him saying, "teams offered me ridiculous sums to throw a baseball, and I'm not foolish enough to turn that down."

Meanwhile, the Red Sox, authors of the initial "lowball", "insulting", "parsimonious" offer will wish Lester well and move on. 

In the movie Kingpin, Woody Harrelson is shocked to hear of being "Munsoned", in the words of Urban Dictionary, munsoned (v.) - to be up a creek without a paddle; to have the whole world in the palm of your hand and blow it. a figure of speech. 

As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I'm prepared to be "Lucchinoed."

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