Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Jon Lester Throws No-Hitter; Fantasy Players Everywhere Lament


Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox through a no-hitter last night against the Kansas City Royals, and I for one am gnashing my teeth. I considered picking up Lester on my fantasy team on Sunday afternoon but decided against it.

Just another example of how I'm squarely in line for worst GM of the year.

Lester's accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider that he missed the end of the 2006 season after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Lester was asked which was more special, helping the Red Sox win the 2007 World Series or the no-hitter:
Lester and Varitek were mobbed by teammates running out of the dugout as the speakers played “Tessie,” the victory anthem the Red Sox adopted through two World Series titles in four seasons. Lester was instrumental in the second, less than a year after chemotherapy cured his cancer, when he earned the victory in Game 4 at Colorado to complete the Red Sox sweep.

“I can’t tell you which one means more to me than the other,” Lester said. “The World Series is, obviously, the World Series. How many people get to say they’ve won that? And a no-hitter is a no-hitter. How many people can say they’ve done that?

“So they’re both up there. They both mean a heck of a lot to me, and something I’ll cherish for a long time.”

Lester only gave up two walks and threw a total of 130 pitches and recorded 9 strikeouts. Here's hoping that the insane Jonathan Papelbon didn't do anything ridiculous to Lester in the postgame celebration.

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