Sox Drawer: Revisiting Leter's No No

A day later the magnitude of what Jon Lester accomplished last night is just starting to sink in.


It's not the fact that the kid threw a no-hitter; let's face it, some truly scrub pitchers have been lucky enough to get through a full game without allowing a hit - Bud Smith, Jose Jimenez, Wilson Alvarez, Juan Nieves and Joe Cowley, just to name a few recent ones.

The impressive part of the whole story is the back story that sounds like it's straight out of a Disney movie.

Cue the sappy music and deep-voiced narrator:

Left handed pitching prospect gets drafted in 2002 by storied franchise the Boston Red Sox, works his way through the minor leagues and finally gets called up to the bigs in June of 2006.

Three months later the 23-year-old is involved in a minor car accident on the way to Fenway Park and suffers a back injury that forces him to be placed on the disabled list. Only further testing shows that the pain is not due to the crash actually lymphoma, a treatable yet deadly form of cancer that could have gotten worse had it not been diagnosed at the time.

After months of treatment and rehab Lester is declared cancer-free, and after many minor league starts and small setbacks, he returned to a major league mound on July 23, 2007 in Cleveland. He pitched a strong six innings at Jacobs Field and picked up the win to the delight of his teammates, fans, and parents, who were in attendance to witness their son's magnificent return to the majors.

His perseverance and determination was an inspiration to a world full of cancer patients and spoke volumes about the character and will this young man has.

End credits...

What, it doesn't end there? Oh yeah, there's more.

After that triumphant return Lester posted a 4-0 record with a 4.57 ERA in 11 starts in 07, and then he became a true baseball hero when he started and won the clinching Game 4 of the 2007 World series, completing his return as not only a cancer-free human being, but a top notch starting pitcher in the major leagues as well.

Entering 2008, with the health concerns behind him, the Sox were expecting big things from Lester and fellow phenom Clay Buchholz, who himself tossed a no hitter in his second career start at Fenway in September. The two kids were named the 4th and 5th starters on a championship contender, and the weight of the Nation was on their shoulders.

So what happens? Three weeks after he threw an 8 inning 1-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays Lester pitched a no hitter against the Kansas City Royals in Fenway, matching his counterpart's performance statistically speaking, but surpassing Buchholz' feat on a much more philosophical level.

Where as Buchholz effort was more a result of luck and September callups, Lester's was a direct result of hard work, determination and the will to succeed.

What this man has accomplished is really nothing short of remarkable. He is an inspiration not only to cancer patients but to young ballplayers and people in general. It would have been so easy for him to give up. To beat cancer and then kick back and enjoy the simple things in life.

Instead Jon Lester decided to pursue his dream of becoming a quality major league pitcher on a championship team.

Mission accomplished, and then some.

No No Notes:

-First no hitter thrown by a Sox lefty since Mel Parnell in 1956

-He and Buchholz efforts enabled the Sox to become first team to toss consecutive no nos in MLB since Nolan Ryan did it for the Angels in 1974 and 75

-Only the 2nd time Royals have been no hit (ironically the other time was Ryan's in 74)

-Boston has 18 no hitters in its history, 2nd only to the Dodgers 20

-The Sox have thrown 4 no nos since 2001: Hideo Nomo (01), Derek Lowe (02), Buchholz (07) and now Lester.

-Jason Varitek has been behind the plate for all 4 of those, a new MLB record