On the Mark: Lester is the most pleasant of surprises
Jon Lester's no-no
I had some hope for the Hornets. If you like basketball, you can't help but like their point guard, Chris Paul. What's more, there's the idea of an upstart team prospering in the battered, ramshackle city of New Orleans. A Hornets victory was not to be, though.
Instead, there came the news that Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox had pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. The last time Jon Lester drew national notice was late last October, in the fourth and clinching game of the World Series. He threw five-and-two-thirds innings, allowing three hits, three walks and no runs, earned or otherwise. Of Lester's performance, the aging ace Curt Schilling concluded: "All things considered, the most clutch game I've ever seen."
Lester wasn't even supposed to have been on Boston's postseason roster. He only got the call because Tim Wakefield, Boston's veteran knuckleballer, had an ailing shoulder. Still, he never got to bask in the full, deserved glory of the evening, as it was diminished by Scott Boras, who alerted the media in the middle of the game that Alex Rodriguez was opting out of his contract.
Between the Red Sox sweep and Boras' bulletin, Lester didn't get his due. But Monday night, he more than made up for that. The Royals, with a better team batting average than the Yankees and the Tigers and the Mets, are not quite the easy mark they have been for so many years. Still, they weren't a match for Lester, who had command of his entire arsenal, everything from a 78-mph curve to a 96-mph fastball that Alberto Callaspo could only flail at for the final out. Lester's first complete game in the majors just happened to be a no-hitter.
"Something I'll remember forever," he said.
In fact, it is something of a wonder that Lester, 24, is still in a Boston uniform. He was part of a proposed deal for Johan Santana this past off-season. Some years ago, as a minor-league prospect, he was offered as part of a package for Alex Rodriguez.
More improbable, however, is his comeback from anaplastic large cell lymphoma. It was diagnosed toward the end of his rookie season, in September, 2006. Lester had thought the pain in his back was the result of his being rear-ended in traffic in Boston. The doctors told him it was cancer.
There would be six rounds of chemo for Lester. By that December, he was told that its visible evidence had been eradicated. It would take almost five more years for him to be declared cancer-free. In the meantime, he'd remain on the DL. He didn't make the first start of his comeback until this last September 26th. Then the World Series. Now this, the no-hitter.
"It couldn't happen to a better kid," said Red Sox manager, Terry Francona.
I'd like to think I know what Francona means, that Lester had the faith to imagine this kind of night. I know just this much about cancer: optimism is a powerful drug. Still, it requires great power to remain optimistic after a doctor says you have cancer. Once in a while you hear about someone with that kind of strength. That's the pleasant surprise.
On the Mark
Once again, the Spurs proved playing defense doesn't necessitate playing ugly.
As for the Celtics-Cavs, that series was so ugly, it shouldn't have counted at all.
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| Boobie Gibson: Difference maker. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images) |
First, Ray Allen. The last guy who disappeared like that in Boston was about to testify against Whitey Bulger.
And what's this about Game 7 being one for the ages?
It's not a great game when P.J. Brown suddenly morphs into a go-to guy.
Or when you have this thought: "You know, Boobie Gibson would've made all the difference."
Then there's Kevin Garnett. You think it's too much to ask for more than five baskets and four foul shots from an absurdly athletic 7-footer in a seventh game at home?
Actually, my beef with Garnett goes back to Game 5. How do you allow yourself to get beat by a guy with a soccer hairdo?
As for that other disaster, the Subway Series, which one of the Yankees was wearing Jason Giambi's prized golden thong?
Seriously, I don't mind Giambi wearing the slump-busting, female undergarment of his choice. I'm just not sure that thong-sharing is, you know, hygienic.
Johnny Damon, I get. He's not the brightest guy. But Jeter, the captain?
What would Thurman Munson say?
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| Did Ryan Church steal Jason Giambi's lucky thong before he homered Sunday? (Al Bello / Getty Images) |
Any day now the New York Daily News' Investigative Team will report that the Golden Thong was taken by the Mets in a cross-clubhouse panty raid.
Big Brown's trainer told the News he doses all his horses with Winstrol on the 15th of every month.
Could be worse. At least he's not making them wear thongs.
Henry Waxman is praying Big Brown wins the Triple Crown so he can subpoena his first horse.
By the way, when does PETA hold that big rally for all the jockeys who've been killed and paralyzed at the track?
Bill Belichick tells CBS News: "There was no deception."
There's a guy who gets it, huh?
I'm not saying that LeBron James didn't have any help, just that he's entitled to a Kobe-like summer.
So what if Charles Barkley tried to stiff Steve Wynn?
That's a good thing.
Just wondering though: what's David Stern's policy on TNT announcers gambling their way into heavy debt?
By the time you read this, Alex Rodriguez will be back with the Yankees.
But still no word on Robinson Cano.
In case any of you A-Rod haters are keeping score at home, as of Tuesday the Yankees had gone 6-11 without him.
What was all that about him playing in simulated games?
I thought all baseball games are simulated.
How happy is Joe Torre, knowing that Monday was the day he would've become the first manager fired by Hank Steinbrenner?
Forty is the new 30, and USC is the new Miami.
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| What's the matter, War Emblem? (DON EMMERT / Getty Images) |
This just in: Myles Brand has learned of a new threat to the integrity of the college game. Apparently, agents employ "runners" to funnel cash to prospects.
Geez, what'll they think of next?
Truth is, there are a lot more ballplayers who don't belong in college than don't belong in the pros.
The Preakness was considered a huge success, as it went off without incident. In other words, horse racing is the opposite of NASCAR.
Hope Big Brown enjoys retirement more than War Emblem, the 2002 Kentucky Derby winner who hasn't impregnated a mare in four years.
Steroids?
Nah. Thongs.
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