Thursday, May 22, 2008

A TALE OF GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP: By now, you’ve probably figured out that baseball and the Boston Red Sox are near and dear to my heart. Some of you might also know that helping to raise money for cancer research is also a passion of mine, having lost my father and uncle to cancer in the recent past.

So when a story about cancer and the Red Sox comes together, I get pretty excited. On Monday, Jon Lester, a 24-year old cancer survivor, pitched a no-hitter for the Sox. Two years ago, it was uncertain whether Lester would even be able to survive.

One of things about the story that impressed me was the reaction of the other team, the Royals. Here are some quotations from them:

Billy Butler: "He didn't make any mistakes," he murmurs. And to the next question: "He didn't make any mistakes," he murmurs again.

Mark Teahen: "It's not embarrassing," he says. "It's just ... he was good."

Finally, Brian Bannister: "If someone had to throw a no-hitter against us, I'm glad it was Jon," he finally says. "That's just an amazing story after what he has gone through. As a fellow pitcher, I can see just how amazing this is. It hurts to get no-hit, but you think about what he did. You know, that's why I love this game."

The reactions of the Royals players exemplify good sportsmanship.

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