Report says Lackey has filed for divorce

Names

September 27, 2011|By Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein, Globe Staff

In his two seasons with the Red Sox, pitcher John Lackey has done little to endear himself to fans. (His ERA this season is the highest in team history for a starter with at least 150 innings pitched.) But Lackey’s image took an even bigger hit yesterday when TMZ revealed that the righthander filed for divorce from his wife, Krista - who’s battling breast cancer.

Neither Lackey nor his wife would comment on the report, and judging from his tone at a post-game presser with reporters after his start Sunday, Lackey won’t be talking much about his dissolving marriage in the future. “Thirty minutes before the game, I got a text message on my cellphone from one of you … somebody in the media, talking about personal stuff,’’ he said, sounding more than a little agitated. “I shouldn’t even be standing up here having to deal with this … that’s over the line.’’

Uncharacteristically, the Red Sox issued a statement on the matter yesterday saying, “John Lackey is dealing with a deeply personal family issue, and it is one the Red Sox do not feel is appropriate for public debate. The Red Sox request that John and Krista’s privacy be respected.’’

TMZ reports that Lackey filed for divorce on Aug. 30 in his native Texas, with the pitcher claiming “the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.’’ (According to the website, Lackey filed the papers using his and Krista’s initials, something Tony Parker and Eva Longoria and Sandra Bullock and Jesse James also did in their Texas divorces.) Married in November 2008, Lackey and his wife do not have children. They own a three-bedroom townhouse on Beacon Street, for which they paid $2.05 million.

When he signed with the Red Sox, Lackey told reporters that his wife, who grew up in the southern Maine mill town of Sanford and attended the University of New Hampshire, wanted him to play in Boston. “I definitely had to have my agent really let (the Red Sox) know I was serious about this. The wife helped out a lot,’’ he said at the time.