Israel Matzav

A storybook ending?

Game 4 in Denver may bring a storybook ending to the World Series, with Jon Lester on the mound for the Red Sox. On the day before I left Boston to return to Israel in September 2006, it was announced that Jon Lester had a rare form of Hodgkins lymphoma and would be undergoing chemotherapy. Jon came back this past July, and won his first start against the Cleveland Indians - the same team the Sox beat in the ALCS.

Tonight, Jon Lester will get the ball in Game 4 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies. The Sox lead the Series 3-0. (Fortunately, I was in synagogue from the bottom of the 7th onwards of last night's game. Otherwise, I would have had a heart attack when the score got to 6-5).

Ironically, the Rockies' starter tonight has a similar story:

Lester's story twins with that of Rockies starter Aaron Cook, who had blot clots in his right shoulder that spread to his lungs in 2004.

"It's kind of ironic with him going through what he went through and me what I went through," acknowledged Cook. "Both of us had to work our way back up to the top level of professional baseball . . . I'm sure he realizes, too, without me talking to him, that baseball is not the most important thing."

It'll be an irresistible hook for Fox. Good Oprah-type stuff. But once the first pitch is thrown, it'll all be about baseball.

"It makes for a wonderful story that people want to write about, which I understand," said Francona, who believes Lester is throwing harder than at any time since coming back from his illness. "But it's about him being better than the Rockies, and I think he has a very good understanding of that."

It's a great story, but here's hoping that Jon Lester wins.

And as a bonus, here's a video. Unlike some people, I don't object to President George Bush throwing out the first ball at Game 3 in 2001 in New York being included in the highlights. I got goose bumps when I first saw that on tape.



Let's go Red Sox....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:24 PM