RSN Represents in Vancouver Winter Olympics

Life is Good.

Pitchers and Catchers report TOMORROW;

Opening Day is only 45 days away;
The 2010 Winter Olympics are in full swing.

I have been pleasantly surprised watching the national coverage of the games to find out two of our USA representatives are members of Red Sox Nation!

(image courtesy of boston.com)

Hannah Kearney is a VT native, and 2010 Gold Medalist in the Women's Freestyle Moguls did a great interview with Bob Costas where she admits to wearing a Jacoby Ellsbury shirt under her opening ceremony uniform and then Costas gives a shout-out to RSN. (about 4:40 into the video).

It's been reported that Tom Wearner called Kearney up on her cell phone to ask if she wanted to throw out the first pitch at a Sox v. Yanks game in April; An offer she (reportedly) gladly accepted.

If I could walk in the shoes of anyone right now, it just might be Kearney.

I mean, Ben & Jerry's are going to name and ice cream flavor after her. And while that's not Sox related, it's just plain cool. Never mind the fact the flavor is Coffee and chocolate cookies. No joke, my favorite. Seriously we should be BFF.

(image courtesy of nbcolympics.com)

Then there is Mr. Michael Morse who placed 15th in the 2010 Men's Freestyle Moguls.

During his interview, he showed the world that he wore a Red Sox belt buckle under his skiing uniform. The buckle may not have given him the best of luck in the Olympics, but this guy is a lucky charm in other ways.

Morse threw out the first pitch in Lester's 2008 No Hitter (a game I was at!)

He grew up on the South Shore in Duxbury, MA and has been an avid Red Sox fan his whole life.

Have you heard of any other Olympian who is a Sox fan? How about an Olympian who is a fan of another MLB team? Email me and let me know!

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John Lester Has Cancer

Sometimes I just don't understand the way things work. It has been recently leaked to the media that John Lester, father of our cancer-beating no no pitching Jon Lester, also has cancer. Instead of trying to write a post about it, I'd like to point you to a great blog post written by Texas Gal on Center Field.

She writes:

As if the no hitter and victory celebrations afterwards weren't already sweet enough, Jon Lester wasn't just putting to rest his own battle over cancer... but also the news that his father had also been just recently diagnosed with lymphoma as well. Jon revealed the news during an interview with Erin Andrews on ESPN earlier today.

Lester said his father John was diagnosed with lymphoma last month and that the cancer is "slow growing, ... something [his father] will die with, not die from."

Jon Lester learned of his father's medical problems during Boston's opening series at Fenway Park when they got their World Series rings. Jon Lester, who was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma nearly two years ago, earned the victory in the clinching game of Boston's sweep of the Colorado Rockies last year.

When his mother sat him down to deliver the news, Lester knew the seriousness of the situation.

"You hear the word cancer, and you figure death," Lester said.

Jon Lester said his father is doing well and has two more treatments to go. The 24-year-old pitcher said that his father is proud of him, but after learning first hand what his son had to go through, "He's more proud of me on another level."

It also helps explain that extra bit of emotion shared between Jon and Tito Francona:

After the no-hitter, Lester and Red Sox manager Terry Francona had an emotional embrace. Everyone understood then what the pitcher had been through to get to this point -- or at least they thought they did.

While none of Lester's teammates knew of his father's cancer, Francona had been told what was going on. That was likely why Lester had said he wanted to keep his conversation with his manager private after the game.

Father and son had debated whether or not to talk publicly about his dad's condition. John Lester wanted his son to get it off his chest.

"He's telling everyone ... like he won a prize," Jon Lester said. "It makes him feel better to sit there and talk about it. He can tell people, you know what, I have cancer, I'm doing great, everything is going to be good and people look at him like he's crazy. I guess that's how everyone looked at me when I told them."

Jon will get to see his father for the first time since his dad was diagnosed today, when he takes the hill in Oakland.

Father and son will get to talk in person about their unfortunate common bond on Sunday. Jon Lester is scheduled to make his first start since the no-hitter Sunday afternoon in Oakland against the Athletics.

When the Lesters meet up Sunday night, Jon is bringing a special gift for his dad. He'll have a brand new Red Sox World Series hat with him to cover his father's head that is now bald due to cancer treatments.

She also posted the full video of the Erin Andrews interview of Jon, which on May 25th as Sunday Conversation on ESPN. Stop on over and take a look.

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Jon Lester No Hitter - I Was There!

It's the stuff dreams are made of.

Every Red Sox fan hopes to experience things in their baseball lifetime -

• Going to games at Fenway Park - Thanks to my awesome family I'm guaranteed at least 10 games a season
• Seeing Justin Masterson's Major League debut? I'd say that's impressive (especially after only giving up three hits the other night). I was also there for Cla Meredith's MLB debut.
  
• Watching a crazed fan get dragged of the field? Briefly captured on video
• How many of you know Jose Canseco actually pitched an inning against the Red Sox? I do, I was there
  
• How being there for walk off wins thanks to Papi? Been there
• Our favorite Jack Drinking first baseman Kevin Millar's return to Fenway in 'o5? Yep
  
• Johnny Demon's return to Fenway Park? The same night Mirabelli gets dressed in a cab to make his return as well? Uh huh...I was there
• Signed baseballs from a legend? Thank you Johnny Pesky
• Witnessing the history making back to back to back to back homeruns against the Yankees? You guessed it - I was there!
  
• Playing catch with dad in the Fenway outfield? Done that
• For Red Sox Fans a wish was always for a World Series win in their lifetime. I've had two - complete with their Rolling Rally parades!
  

I have been a blessed baseball fan - and last night I was blessed again while experiencing a no-hitter from Mr. Jon Lester.

I have to thank Google for this. The tickets were a gift from them, thanks to the business our companies do together. Those New Yorkers couldn't have picked a better game to bring us to. THANK YOU will never be enough!

Armed with my new camera, a Canon 40D, I was able to get some good shots of the game. Not great shots, I've seemed to left my photography skills back with the film cameras. If anyone wants to teach me how to use this beast, I'm game!

Anyway - I don't need to go on and on about how impressive any no hitter is - never mind the circumstances behind this no hitter. What I really want to do is share some of those pictures with all of you.

A full moon rising over the park in the 8th inning.

Lester getting ready to pitch in the 9th

The Last Pitch of the Game

I DID IT!

Look how high Youk jumped!

Cora and Lowell in unison

The mighty bullpen leaping over the camera wires

130 total pitches - 86 for strikes - Last pitch a 94 MPH Fastball!

Captain Tek handing Lester the game ball (if you look closely you can see it in his right hand)

What a game. What a night. What memories!

But before another person I know tells me how much they hate me for being at the game, let me bring things back down a little bit. This morning, as I was walking to my car on my way to work, I stumbled on the grass and twisted my ankle. Bad. Bad enough that I was given a cast, crutches and orders to stay off my feet for five days. All of this 17 days before my wedding. So really, don't hate me too much. PLUS, these crutches...they don't do it for me. I was obviously not coordinated enough to walk on my own two feet, and now I have to try and balance on these things? Oh no way...this is not working well.

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Jon Lester Sent Down to Double-A Portland

I'm not sure what the reason for this recent move is? Maybe they just wanted to give him some time off before his next start?

As reported by By Amalie Benjamin of the Globe Staff on Boston.com

Red Sox lefty Jon Lester was sent down to Double-A Portland today. Lester is 2-0 with a 5.67 ERA in six starts since being recalled from Pawtucket on July 23.

Lester will miss one start and is scheduled to return to start for the Red Sox on September 2.
Julian Tavarez is expected to take Lester's start on Sunday.

The team recalled lefthanded pitcher Javier Lopez from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Lopez is 2-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 17 appearances with Pawtucket this season. He has not allowed a run in his last seven outings with the PawSox, covering 3.1 innings. The lefthander will be making his third stint with the Red Sox this season and is 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 44 appearances.

In other news, lets hope the weather holds and we get tonight's game in. Beckett is going for his 16th win and pitching against Danks who is 6-11 on the season.

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Dear Jon Lester,

I don't want to make too much of this. I just want to wish you luck, and congratulate you on being called back up to the bigs. Go get 'em champ, we're cheering for you!

Love,
SoxyLady

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Dice-KKKKKKKKKK

I haven't read my daily blogs yet and have tried to stay away from any form of news before I wrote my Daisuke update. I can image this is what everyone has been fosuing on, and rightly so. The kid didn't do us wrong, infact he was pretty darn good.

I'm really looking forward to watching him develop as an MLB pitcher this year. If you weren't able to see any of the game, check out ESPN's video highlights of Daisuke's debut.

(photo courtesy of the AP)

Matsuzaka went 7 innings and gave up 6 hits and 1 run. He had 10 strike outs (1 less than the Red Sox rookie debut record), walked only one and threw 108 pitches - 74 for strikes. Most impressive was the 4th inning where he struck out the side on 14 (I think) pitches. Even though he got in bit of trouble in the 1st (which he got out of by turning a double play) and gave up a DeJesus homerun, the Sox came out on top 7-1.

I think fans who were there got to see the first game of a Red Sox legend. Too easy to make those comments? I'm wishful. Apparently we could have all been at the game. We should have banded together and chartered a plane, according to this Boston.com article, it still would have been cheaper than us spending a day at Fenway!

On another note - The Daisuke Nike Commercial is great. I love it, almost as much as I love the beer commercial. Thank goodness for the Internet so we're all able to see stuff like this whenever we want.

Something else which deserves mention is Jon Lester's performance yesterday.

Lester made his first start of the year Thursday night for the Class-A Greenville Drive as he attempts to return to Boston's rotation after an offseason of cancer treatments and uncertainty. He shut out the New York Yankees' affiliate, the Charleston RiverDogs, on two hits over four innings before coming out.

When Lester left the game, he thought he had allowed only one hit, but afterward the official scorer ruled that Mitch Hilligoss' hard shot at Greenville third baseman Manny Arambarris was a hit. The scorer originally said Hilligoss reached base on an error.

I think it's safe to say we all wish Lester well and are excited about tracking his progress.

I'm listening to the Sox game at Texas. It's only the third inning, but....

Dear Dougie,

For the love of God. Please cut us a break.

Love,
Soxy Lady

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Brrrrrr.....

Where did this cold weather (both here in the Boston area and in Kansas City!) come from? Snow in April? I do not approve!

Beckett is getting his '07 start tonight and there is a lot of hype around it. This is supposed to be "his" year - forget Dice K, people are saying Josh will be our star pitcher. Let's hope that starts with tonight. I have yet to decide if I'll live blog or not during the game. I'm not really sure it's my thing.

I also want to send best wishes to Jon Lester who will be starting tomorrow night with the Greenville Drive, under manager Gabe Kapler! If things go well with Jon, we could be seeing him as soon as May in a Boston uniform! I can only hope I'll be there for that reception when it happens :o)

GO SOX

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Brrrrr.....

In Boston the temperature has fluctuated from being in the 50s (last week) to in the teens (today - with a windchill of -7!!!) Man it's cold! I was really starting to get "spring fever" with the warmer weather and spring training games. Now I'm feeling like it's only the middle of January!

One story that keeps me "warm and fuzzy" is Jon Lester's comeback. Slow and steady wins the race and will get him back to being an ace pitcher.

(photo courtesy of the AP)

It was September 2, 2006 when Boston.com reported Jon's illness:

The Red Sox announced yesterday that Jon Lester, 22, had been diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a blood cancer, and will begin treatment in the coming week.

RSN was already down on the ground being kicked with injuries and "Manny being
Manny" when we got this blow. Fast forward only six months later to March 5, 2007 where Lester went out and pitched an inning in a Spring Training game! Lester had an 8 pitch inning in a B game against the Twins.

Lester feels he is 85-90% back to being full strength. He really wants to get out there and do this thing, but understands why the organization is urging him to take things slow.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY can't wait for him to return to the Majors and show his stuff. I'll be honest, I didn't think much about him one way or another before news of his cancer broke. But the way he has kept such a positive attitude and worked to get his life "back to normal" impresses me above and beyond just about anything.

GOOD LUCK JON LESTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOXY LADY IS ROUTING FOR YOUR SUCCESS!!!!!!!

Here is a great blog dedicated to Jon's recovery: http://jonlesterwatch.blogspot.com/

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(The Day After) Truck Day

I made it in time to see the Red Sox equipment truck leave Fenway on its journey to Ft. Meyers. Wally was there, he threw me a ball. I caught it - What's up, I could be on the Sox! Think they need another outfielder? Drew still isn't on the 40-man roster! So what if I throw like a girl, Damon did too!

I took some pictures and even a couple short videos, but for some reason I keep losing my Internet connection (argh, Comcast!) and YouTube is being hella-slow tonight. So the video is going to have to wait. Sorry all.


In Spring Training News Papelbon, Lester and Beckett all threw off the mound today. Look at our pitchers, out there early and excited for the new season! I loved this quote from Pap about Lester:

"When I first saw Jon today, I almost didn't recognize him because I didn't expect him to look that good," said Jonathan Papelbon, after arriving today for the first time. "Look the same old Jonny to me. Obviously I've said prayer after prayer for him this offseason, me and my wife. It's just awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome to see him come back from that. The fight that he's gone through, you know, it's just amazing. For me that's the kind of teammate I want, somebody that's never going to give up, somebody that's going to go out there and bust his butt to succeed and bust his butt to get where he wants and deserves. That was awesome, almost like a pick-me-up."

According to our dear friends at Extra Bases, Papelbon spent some time in the off season hunting with Eli Manning! ELI MANNING! What?!?! I HATE ELI MANNING! Half of the reason I wanted the Colts to lose the Superbowl was so I didn't have to see Eli gloating on TV about his brother's win. Ok, maybe not half of the reason....but part of it. Seriously. That was a little disturbing to read. If he sucks it up as a starter, I'm going to blame it on Eli - mark my words!

No need to end on such a sour note.......48 days until opening day and counting! WOO HOO!

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Do you, take this hotdog? I do

Congratulations to Theo and Whitney who wed earlier this month, not at Nathan's Hot Dog Stand, but on John Henry's private yacht. I'm happy for them, wish them many healthy and blissful years together, yadda yadda....However, if the rumor that these nuptials were part of the reason the Drew deal took so long to finalize I'm kind of annoyed. Other than that party on Mr. and Mrs. Epstein!

What really makes me happy are the reports that Jon Lester is in Florida and ready to train with the rest of the pitchers and catchers when they arrive in Ft. Myers. What a fighter this guy is. I'm am whole-heartedly cheering for him and his success.

Then there is our new smiling supa-stah Dice K. Hey, he's pleased with the produce and fish he's had in the good ol' USA - lets hope that keeps him strong and healthy for the five-man pitching rotation.

"One of the things I was most worried about in coming over here was obviously the food. But to my surprise, I found the vegetables are great, the fish tastes great," Matsuzaka said with a smile. "So far, so good. I've been able to lead a comfortable few weeks here."

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