Jon Lester is what makes sports great....
I really wanna try to put this into words as eloquent as humanly possible but honestly, I don't think I can really do it justice. However, I'll do my damndest. I'm not really one of those jock types who you would think watches sports. I mean I may dress like one, but my personality is of a quiet shy artsy chick. A good chunk of my friends aren't baseball fans or sports in general. They look at me oddly when I get onto tangents about baseball and they don't understand why. I've been asked it time and time again "What is the big deal? Why do you like this game so much?" and to put it into words will make me sound like a total fool. To me, it's the stories that make it great. It's the fact that anyday or anytime you got low draft picks making a great name for themselves, you got the light hitting utility infielder getting the game winning hit, you got guys coming out of nowhere, you got highly touted prospects living up to their name, you got all kinds of stories from all different corners of the game.
And then you got tonight's game...
There's nothing at all against Clay Buchholz' no-hitter. It was awesome and amazing in its own right, but this one by Jon Lester was special. This one had extra meaning to us all. Just to think about Lester's career up to this point and all that he has been through...it's just simply amazing. Just amazing. I mean anybody can look at this story and smile, cheer, and just....I don't know what else to say. It's just so amazing really.
It wasn't even two years ago when Lester had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Here Jon Lester was, a 22-year-old who is only 10 days older than my brother, in for the fight of his life. I still remember breaking the news on my f-list after getting an IM a few minutes before midnight from a friend of mine about it. I still remember buying a Jon Lester tee as my super dorky way of support, which I will proudly wear tomorrow. I remembered him in that press conference, stoic and strong, vowing to beat that cancer and to come back onto the field. That grace and courage is what pulled him through. He may not think of himself as an inspiration or a hero, and honestly it's better that he doesn't because nobody likes an egomaniac. The truth is that he is. He beat that cancer and came back to play baseball mere months after his last treatment. He pitched the clincher in the World Series and you couldn't help but think to yourself "Wow....what a story"
And then he goes and throws this no-hitter and kicks this story up a notch.
Stuff like THIS is what makes sports great. To see guys like Lester and Lowell who overcame cancer and kicked ass, guys like Josh Hamilton whose overcoming drug addiction and finally living up to his hype, guys like David Ortiz and Hideki Okajima who come out of nowhere and being the forces that they are, it's the passion of Jonathan Papelbon and Joba Chamberlain, it's the fact that a guy in his 20's and a guy in his 40's can not only play the game but they can play on the same team, it's the low draft picks that make a name for themselves like Mark Buerhle, it's teams that come out of nowhere like the 2007 Colorado Rockies who steal teh hearts of many....these are the things that make not only baseball but sports so great.
And right now? I couldn't be any prouder to be a fan of baseball right now. To see this 24 year old kid pitch a no-hitter after everything he has been through, and all? My heart is just bursting with pride and I'm only a fan.
This past Friday the news came out that one of the Red Sox' prospects, an 18 year old kid named Anthony Rizzo, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He'll miss 6-8 months of playing time, but like Lester, it's been said that the cancer is extremely treatable and curable. I really hope that Rizzo was watching tonight and he saw that Lester not only beat it, but he returned to baseball, and was stronger and better.
God...what a fucking story.
I'm sorry if this is disjointed and nonsensical, but I had to say something.
And then you got tonight's game...
There's nothing at all against Clay Buchholz' no-hitter. It was awesome and amazing in its own right, but this one by Jon Lester was special. This one had extra meaning to us all. Just to think about Lester's career up to this point and all that he has been through...it's just simply amazing. Just amazing. I mean anybody can look at this story and smile, cheer, and just....I don't know what else to say. It's just so amazing really.
It wasn't even two years ago when Lester had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Here Jon Lester was, a 22-year-old who is only 10 days older than my brother, in for the fight of his life. I still remember breaking the news on my f-list after getting an IM a few minutes before midnight from a friend of mine about it. I still remember buying a Jon Lester tee as my super dorky way of support, which I will proudly wear tomorrow. I remembered him in that press conference, stoic and strong, vowing to beat that cancer and to come back onto the field. That grace and courage is what pulled him through. He may not think of himself as an inspiration or a hero, and honestly it's better that he doesn't because nobody likes an egomaniac. The truth is that he is. He beat that cancer and came back to play baseball mere months after his last treatment. He pitched the clincher in the World Series and you couldn't help but think to yourself "Wow....what a story"
And then he goes and throws this no-hitter and kicks this story up a notch.
Stuff like THIS is what makes sports great. To see guys like Lester and Lowell who overcame cancer and kicked ass, guys like Josh Hamilton whose overcoming drug addiction and finally living up to his hype, guys like David Ortiz and Hideki Okajima who come out of nowhere and being the forces that they are, it's the passion of Jonathan Papelbon and Joba Chamberlain, it's the fact that a guy in his 20's and a guy in his 40's can not only play the game but they can play on the same team, it's the low draft picks that make a name for themselves like Mark Buerhle, it's teams that come out of nowhere like the 2007 Colorado Rockies who steal teh hearts of many....these are the things that make not only baseball but sports so great.
And right now? I couldn't be any prouder to be a fan of baseball right now. To see this 24 year old kid pitch a no-hitter after everything he has been through, and all? My heart is just bursting with pride and I'm only a fan.
This past Friday the news came out that one of the Red Sox' prospects, an 18 year old kid named Anthony Rizzo, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He'll miss 6-8 months of playing time, but like Lester, it's been said that the cancer is extremely treatable and curable. I really hope that Rizzo was watching tonight and he saw that Lester not only beat it, but he returned to baseball, and was stronger and better.
God...what a fucking story.
I'm sorry if this is disjointed and nonsensical, but I had to say something.