Jon Lester No Hitter

Dan:

• I have tix for tomorrow night's game against Kansas City. I originally thought we'd be seeing Jon Lester pitch, and I whined about it to everyone. I did not want to see him (even though he's on my fantasy team). He is too frustrating: walks too many, doesn't make it out of the fifth, we should've traded him, etc. . . . . . Oh how I now wish I'd seen Jon Lester pitch.
• How good a catcher is Jason Varitek? He's now caught four no-hitters -- more than any other catcher in history. It was with four different pitchers -- Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, and the kids Clay Bucholz and Jon Lester. Not a Nolan Ryan in the bunch. And, consider the times Pedro and Schilling each took no-no's into the ninth. The greatness of a catcher goes way beyond offensive numbers, and when ranking great catchers their whole game needs to be considered, including how good they are at managing a pitching staff and calling a game. Jason Varitek is a great catcher.
• You could just see the stress on Jon Lester's face in the ninth inning.
• Back to Lester being on my fantasy team. Walks, hits, fat pitch counts. This guy has been a frustrating mess this season. I had him benched for two games recently. I even tried to trade him three days ago. If I had benched him tonight, I'd be playing in highway traffic right now. And my asking price for Lester just went way, way up. (Of course, his stock just went way up, and maybe this is the perfect time for me to trade him. Something to ponder.)
• I was so sweating that last out -- with a man on third, a base hit could have robbed my fantasy team of a no-hitter, shutout and complete game. But it all worked out and I'm now right on the heels of my evil brother. I know my fantasy team shouldn't matter so much . . . . but it does.
• You have to be at least a little concerned about the wear and tear on Lester's arm tonight. So many times we've seen pitchers throw no-hitters, or near no-hitters, only to go on to struggle or hit the DL soon after. It can take a terrible toll on a pitcher's arm, and with Lester throwing 130 pitches tonight, it is rather scary. But damn, how exciting.
• Seeing how excited everyone on the Sox were for Lester -- especially Francona's really nice embrace afterward -- just has to make you really like this team. Does anybody get more excited about this stuff than Big Papi? It's just a good team that you can really root for . . . a nice change from the Mike Lansings, Mike Greenwells, Jose Cansecos and Jose Offermans of the past.
• Why I love my wife: While watching a highlight of Jacoby Ellsbury's no-no saving catch, my wife says "You make catches like that all the time, babe." Sure, it's for a beer-league co-ed softball team instead of the major leagues . . . just details.