Bottom Of The Barrel

#31 is #1 in our hearts

Jon Lester took the mound last night for his first start of the season for the Boston Red Sox. He pitched six solid innings and the official stat sheet reads: 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks and 6 strike outs. One number that wasn't written into yesterday's stat book was 11 - as in 11 months since Lester was diagnosed with cancer, a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Since last September, where Lester was enjoying a very good rookie year with a 7-2 record, he has gone through 6 chemotherapy sessions that eventually eradicated the disease but he still had a long recovery ahead of him. Eager to return to baseball, Jon reported two weeks early to training camp and has been working ever since to get back to the majors. With hard work, patience and determination he made it back to the show last night and really no matter the outcome of the game, Lester would be a winner.

Welcome home Jon and thanks for giving all of us, a story with so much heart that Red Sox Nation grew to include all baseball fans, at least for one night.

posted by TheWino @ 8:00 AM