The Warm and Fuzzy Game to end all Warm and Fuzzy Games
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by MegECass110
I sat there, just as stressed out as his parents were. Hanging on every pitch. Every ball, every strike, every foul ball. I can't remember being so nervous about a non-playoff baseball game. I wanted him to do so well, just like everyone else.
This kid, three years older than me, this aw-shucks pitcher from Tacoma, Washington, this incredible person whose mental and physical strength carried him back to this stable mound of dirt, proceeded to show me, his parents and his teammates we had no reason to be nervous.
As a spectacular sunset enveloped Jacobs Field, I periodically blew kisses to the television. I clapped enthusiastically. I got misty-eyed in the fourth. I giggled. My heart raced. I smiled widely when the game ended. Afterwards, the reason for all of my emotions seemed nervous for the first time, talking to Karl Ravech on BBTN. He wasn't quite sure what to say. Most of teammates had plenty to say, what an inspiration he was, that tonight was much more than a baseball game.
My dad is a big reason why I love sports. He took me to BC games, answered every question I had, watched Rudy with me, told me so many stories. He died of colon cancer at the age of 47, when I was 13. There is no doubt in my mind my dad was watching last night, and was smiling the whole time.
I've written about the Warm and Fuzzy Game. I've written about how the Red Sox need a swift kick in the ass if they want to make a run deep into the playoffs. Jon Lester, at least for now, satisfied both needs.
He is a beacon of hope for every cancer survivor, patient, victim, and their family members. No matter how many games in a row the Red Sox lose, or how tough the season can be, I stop and think of Jon Lester and what he and my dad had to go through. No defeat can measure up to having your life taken away.
Lester probably has a legion of fans spanning far and wide beyond Red Sox Nation; I'm sure even a few Yankee fans had to smile when they saw the box score. As Lester pumped his fist after striking out Grady Sizemore with the bases loaded in the fourth, my heart felt a warmth it hadn't felt in a while.
So thanks Jon, for not only pitching six great innings but also never giving up the fight. And thanks, Daddy, for helping to make your daughter the happiest she's been in a while.
