i really didn't know when i'd get to write my first entry ... or what it would be about ... until late last evening ... i had just witnessed the "what" ... and i knew the "when" had to be now while it was all fresh on my mindthe evening started as it usually does, with nesn on in the background while i catch up on my cyber-reading ... tonite it would be red sox vs yankees from the bronx ... red sox arrived in new york with a tampa bay sweep and 5 straight road losses on their minds ... this night they would need a solid, winning effort from their starting pitcher, jon lester ... and some offensive support ... as the evening progressed ... red sox vs yankees had captured my complete attention ... jon lester was pitching, arguably, the best game of his young career ... and the offense had produced some runs ... in the end, 7 runs got the job done ... but 1 run would have done it too, thanks to a complete game shutout by the red sox oh-so-talented 24 year old left-hander, jon lester ... the rest of lester's line ... 5 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts on 105 pitches ... the last time the red sox shut out the yankees in the bronx was back in 2000 with pedro on the mound
attention boston and new england ... if you're not paying attention, you are missing out on the development and maturity of a young man and a left-handed pitcher with stardom in his future
we've all read jon lester's story ... selected in the 2nd round of the 2002 amateur draft (#57 overall and #1 by red sox) ... made his major league debut on june 10, 2006 at fenway park ... started 15 games, posting a 7-2 record and a 4.76 era in 2006 ... rookie season ended abruptly on august 27, 2006 when he was diagnosed with a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma ... treated at the fred hutchinson cancer research institute in seattle and declared cancer-free in december of 2006 ... reported to spring training 2007 early, ready to compete for a spot in the red sox starting rotation ... returned to the red sox major league roster on july 23, 2007, pitching boston to a 6-2 win at cleveland ... was the starting and winning pitcher of the world series clinching game 4 in boston's 2007 sweep of colorado ... pitched a no-hitter against kansas city at fenway park on may 19, 2008
we are now witnessing jon lester's evolution ... his first season with the red sox ... the then 22 year old rookie showed flashes of brilliance ... he seemingly had this uncanny ability to escape trouble of his own making ... command and pitch count were issues of concern ... lester's second season was all about healing ... he started the year at the single a level (rather than in the major league rotation) ... yes, his cancer was in remission but his arm and body strength had to be redeveloped ... once lester had worked his way from greenville to portland to pawtucket ... and finally back to boston by mid-july ... he was well on his way to recovery ... but what his every 5th day performances for the red sox evidenced was ... recovery was not yet complete ... whether we were listening or not, the red sox told us so ... "patience", "it's a process", "finding his arm slot", "building arm strength", "improving velocity" ... the year of healing ended with a 4-0 record, 4.57 era and a solid (5.2 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts), winning performance in the final game of the 2007 world series
now we are into the third season of the "lester project" ... the healing is complete and the development and maturity of young, left-handed starting pitcher jon lester is on fast forward ... we are now seeing for ourselves what the red sox have seen in jon lester for 6 years ... potential "top of the rotation" talent ... talent of the magnitude the red sox said no thanks to a jon lester (and others) for 2-time cy young award winner johann santana trade this past offseason ... with tonite's win in new york, jon lester's talent has taken him to a 7-3 record and a 3.21 era with 2 complete games, 2 shutouts and a no-hitter so far in 2008 ... and when we wake up in the morning, jon lester will be 1st among american league pitchers in games started (19), 4th in innings pitched (117.2), tied for 3rd in complete games (2) and tied for 1st in shutouts (2) ... the critics said he was plodding, he lacked control, he was a 5+ inning starter, he was vulnerable to high pitch counts ... for a moment in time, the critics may have actually been half right ... but what the critics forgot to consider is that it truly is "a process" ... they also didnt understand the competitiveness of this very bright, young player ... now jon lester is taking the process to a whole new level ... knowing red sox and american league all-star manager terry francona's fondness and respect for jon lester ... would anyone be suprised if lester is a member of the 2008 american league all-star team
ok, this run-on first blog entry has got to end ... and it will after i make my initial predictions of the future ... first, i will predict jon lester is "in the conversation" for cy young award no later than 2010 ... and second, i will predict that, barring major injury to either pitcher, jon lester will have a longer career with the red sox than jonathan papelbon ... and lester's ultimate body of work with the red sox will be viewed more favorably than papelbon's ... the end
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