On This Day in 2008: Jon Lester No-Hits the Kansas City Royals!
This is a story that I absolutely love every time I hear it. It’s inspirational. It relates with people who are going through troubles. Best of all, it happened right here in the great city of Boston. On this day in 2008, Jon Lester had himself quite a game against the Kansas City Royals, at Fenway Park.
On this date in 2008, Jon Lester of the @RedSox no-hits the @Royals in a 7-0 win at Fenway Park.
Lester had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma two seasons prior. pic.twitter.com/bIxxCOoeIB
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 19, 2020
Nine innings, no runs, two walks, nine strikeouts, NO hits. That was the stat line he had that night. But why do I love it so much?
The Fight With Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma
Jon Lester didn’t have the smoothest of careers early on. He missed a start in August of 2006 when he had back problems. The lefty got looked at and it turned out that he had a treatable form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Imagine being in Jon Lester’s shoes in this case. You have the whole world in front of you as far as an MLB career is concerned. All of a sudden, it’s put on pause because of this obstacle. Lester never gave up. He would continue to fight on and eventually got back to the MLB in 2007. Don’t forget, he helped the Red Sox win the World Series by pitching game four. Five and two-thirds shutout innings later, the Red Sox became World Series champions. Jon Lester continued to fight and quickly became an inspiration to me.
My Personal Feelings
I remember in 2007, I was an 8th grader at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, MA. For my Spanish class, we had an assignment to write about somebody who inspired us and fought back through adversity. Shoutout to Renee Haywood, my Spanish teacher that year, for allowing me to write about Jon Lester because she knew the infatuation I had with the game of baseball. Also, thank GOODNESS we didn’t have to write it in complete Spanish. I would have been SCREWED! Anyways, back to the assignment. Sure enough, I wrote it out and got an A on it. Mrs. Heywood was very impressed. But it wasn’t just about the grade. It was about a man who fought back against all odds to get back to the Major Leagues. I never had to deal with cancer personally, thank goodness. But to write about how much Jon Lester inspired me in the game of baseball because of his continuous fight, that was special to me. It’s something I’ll never forget as long as I live.
In Conclusion
The moment itself is so special in Red Sox history. But the fight Jon Lester went through to get back to the MLB will always live on. Sure, he had nine strikeouts and dominated that night. And yes, this is a great moment in Lester’s career which includes three World Series titles. (Red Sox 2007 & 2013, Cubs 2016) But this night meant more than just a Red Sox win. It solidified all of the fighting that Jon Lester did. The three World Series titles and the five All-Star appearances can compare to how much this particular moment meant to Lester, the Red Sox organization, and Red Sox nation. So take today to remember how great of a performance it was. Because the moment means so much more to a lot of other people. If anybody wants to relive that night, here’s a good video to look at. (courtesy of YouTube and MLB network)
-Al Nahigian (@BigAl2793)