Can John Lackey become a fan favorite in Boston?

Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe has a list of Red Sox predictions for 2013. They’re a fun read, not because any of them will necessarily come to pass, but because so many of them are so very Red Sox. Here’s one, however, that not a lot of people would bank on:

Fans will come to like John Lackey. Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes, too. Lackey may not always say the right thing, but he goes about his business professionally and competes when he’s on the mound.

I get Gomes and Victorino. They annoy some folks, but generally not the fans of the teams for which they play.

Lackey, though, seems to have brought out so much ire among the fans and the Red Sox press. Way more than seems warranted based on his actions (hey, no one forced the Sox to give him that contract), but so much that it seems hard to imagine him becoming well-liked among the fans.

I guess anything is possible, but barring a Red Sox championship run -- which Abraham does not predict, as he believes there is too much ground to make up -- I feel like Lackey will be, at best, a sore reminder of a couple of bad seasons for the Sox.