Lackey leans on his Series experience
Knowing your way around Wrigley ville is a bonus during this weekend of baseball history.
“Just driving to the ballpark and trying to get to the players’ parking lot is an experience,” Cubs pitcher John Lackey said.
Knowing your way around October baseball is an even bigger bonus. Lackey knows that, too.
He was a 23- year- old rookie when he won Game 7 for the 2002 Angels, a team that included Joe Maddon as bench coach.
He has 22 postseason starts, leading all active pitchers. In 25 career postseason appearances, he’s 8- 5 with a 3.26 ERA.
“I never worry about John,” Maddon said of his Game 4 starter Saturday. “He’s been there, done that.”
Lackey went 11- 8 with a 3.35 ERA in the regular season for the Cubs. But that might be considered just a warmup for this stage, the one Lackey always has said was his objective.
“This is why you play the game,” he said. “This is why I’m still playing at this stage ofmy career at this age [ 38]. I’m trying to win championships and trying to be a part of something special.”
For the 6- foot- 6 Texan, this rodeo is a little different.
“It’s a little magnified, I’m sure, with the history and the time it’s been since World Series games here,” he said.
Different, too, is that Lackey has pitched less this October. He last pitched Oct. 19 in the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, allowing two runs and three hits in four innings in a Game 4 victory. But he doesn’t believe the long layoff will hurt.
“I feel great,” he said. “I haven’t been pitching a whole lot this last month, which has been a good thing. We were winning ballgames.
“You’ve got to continue your workouts. You’ve got to continue the off- the- field stuff, maybe throw a few more times off the mound in between to try to stay sharp. But once you get on the mound, the adrenaline, those sorts of things will take over. You’ll be all right.”
Experience will take over, as well.
“Once you’ve done it, you know you can do it,” he said of winning in the World Series. “I guess there’s a lot of guys this time of year that are hoping to do it. But once you’ve actually done it before, it makes it a little bit easier. No matter what happens, nobody can say I can’t win the big one. That’s kind of comforting.’’