That's The Way (I Like It): Royals-Sox Gamer I

KC has a surprisingly competitive record, sitting only one game under .500 and two games out in the tightly-knotted central division. Looking a bit deeper into their numbers, there's not as much sunshine. The offense ranks last in the league in runs scored and ahead of only the lowly Giants and Padres across the majors, while their pitching staff ranks 9th in ERA.

The Royals, who come to Fenway having swept Detroit and having taken two of three from the Marlins, send rookie Luke Hochevar to the bump. Jon Lester, who recorded no-decisions in a so-so outing at Camden and in a very rough start against The Twins, mans the mound for the Sox.

This is one of only three games on tap in the American League tonight. Put on your Boogie Shoes and comment away.

Kansas City
D. DeJesus cf	.279
M. Grudzielanek 2b	.331
A. Gordon 3b	.286
J. Guillen dh	.245
B. Butler 1b	.279
M. Olivo c	.284
M. Teahen rf	.268
E. German lf	.111
T. Pena Jr. ss	.174
L. Hochevar	3.94
Boston
J. Ellsbury cf	.275
D. Pedroia 2b	.307
D. Ortiz dh	.250
M. Ramirez lf	.305
M. Lowell 3b	.280
K. Youkilis 1b	.329
J.D. Drew rf	.281
J. Varitek c	.281
J. Lugo ss	.287
J. Lester	3.95

Comments

[bostondreams]

THAT is why he was not traded for Santana!

As an aside...our young guys are, so far, better than some other teams! :)

Okay, no more snark! Yay!

[Atheose]

Beckett just said "I don't fucking believe it"

[SF]

That's so f*cking excellent. What a game. Congrats, Lester!!!!!!!

[ponch - sf]

two young pitchers with no-nos under their belts already. outstanding.

[Micah-SF]

Wow. Still can't believe it. What an amazing, amazing night. I've done my share of Lester criticism, but I could not be happier for him right now.

[ponch - sf]

the only down side is that my wife is a Royals fan, so I'm not getting any tonight ::grin::

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Tremendous!!!!!

[Brad]

what a great job by this kid. Theo looks better and better every single day.

[SF]

I've done my share of Lester criticism, but I could not be happier for him right now.

Ditto. Awesome.

[Brad]

Can we mention that this was Varitek's fourth no-no? That has to be the record.

[attackgerbil]

I take all the credit. The schwartz is strong with this one.

[stuck working]

Also unbelievable: the Red Sox now have 4 of the last 6 no-hitters in the AL, according to my TV. Seriously? Amazing.

[Devine]

Just woke up to a burglar alarm going off in London--I was sorry about it until two or three minutes ago!!!!

[Atheose]

Agreed. I know he (and most Red Sox fans like myself) are sick of hearing "cancer" in the same sentence whenever Lester is mentioned, but he truly has an amazing story.

[Atheose]

Yeah Devine!

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Lester's uncle is a friend of my dad's. Fuck it. I'm asking for an autograph now.

[attackgerbil]

Seriously though, congratulations to the Sox and especially to young Mr. Lester. Well done, sir.

[rootbeerfloat]

It's already part of wikipedia's page on no-hitters!

[jeremiah]

If my hurried Googling is accurate, Tek just tied the record for no-hitters caught, to boot!

[Brad]

Man. Our young pitchers show such good signs of things to come. That whole "upside" thing is really tilting.

[Dionysus]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jeremiah]

Sorry, Brad, didn't see your comment. He seems to have tied Ray Schalk from the 20s.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Lester throws no hitter while Hughes is on DL and Kennedy is in Triple-A.
think Hal has called Cash yet?

[I'mBillMcNeal]

AG, thanks very much for your good-will comment. Makes up for the Righetti no-no on July 4, 1983 at Fenway.

[Brad]

two young guys, two no hitters.
Freaking awesome, especially when you could really have one with Beckett and Matsuzaka on any given start.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Hey, Doug Davis!
Yeah, you DO have hope! Get well soon.

[SF]

Guys, who cares about the Yankees right now? Seriously!

And Gerb, you've got tomorrow's Sox gamer, ok?

[I'mBillMcNeal]

This line from the AP story:
"Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan is the only other person in history to no-hit the Royals."

Um, so?

[Brad]

Red Sox youngsters have exactly one more no hitters this year than Hughes and Kennedy have wins.

Awesome.

[Brad]

Gerb...

You've got the Sox game thread from now till forever.

Thanks,

All of the Red Sox fanbase.

Agreed, SF. Just busting balls.

[Atheose]

HAHA Brad, pretty funny stuff.

I was present for Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter when I lived in Dallas, and it was amazing. One of the greatest nights of my life. One thing I hate about TV is that you can't tell how loud the place is. They need more microphones.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Enjoyed going to the game with you all tonight, fellas.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Crap. I got so excited I forgot about the Negra Modelo in the freezer and it froze.

[Brad]

oh, that sucks about the ,beer. I actually picked up Sam light tonight, so clearly, my drink of home alone game night has been changed.

[Atheose]

I had a company softball game tonight so I didn't get back until about 8:45, I haven't eaten since 11:30 today! An now I'm too excited to go make food.

[SF]

Just remember this key moment, who knew what it would eventually mean. Certainly not me!

What a grab by Jacoby to end the inning, extending to his left to catch a dipping liner. Fantastic!

Posted by: SF | Monday, May 19, 2008 at 08:19 PM

[I'mBillMcNeal]

I know I'm the one who made the no-cancer comment, but ...
Bill Monboquette threw that no-no against the White Sox in 1962.
You all read about it in the Sunday Globe.
Monbo has lieukemia.
Lester tonight.
Eerie timing.

[TJ]

mlb.com has already archived the game and can be viewed there. If you have the newest version of realplayer cursor over the video and then click on the download button and you can download the game

http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp#20080519

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Sorry if this gets too personal, guys.

This cancer thing just keeps coming back. A friend of mine who is not yet 40 has a rare melanoma he's been fighting for two years. Last week he learned that it had spread to his brain. I think his cancer doctors have all but given up. Ron probably won't make it to the Fourth of July.
He has a 5-year-old son. He's a good and decent, soft-spoken, principled man.
I've thought a lot about him tonight because of Lester's no-hitter. It's uplifting to see what one cancer patient can accomplish, even when another sees no hope.
I'm telling you because Ron and his family need your prayers. I'm just trying to get him help however I can.
Thanks for bearing with me.

[stuck working]

Please send him best wishes from all of us, Bill. And throw in a couple for yourself, too -- maybe it's not as difficult as being sick yourself, but it's awfully hard to watch people you care about struggle with illness.

[Brian]

Personally, I kept the whole not mentioning a no hitter tradition tonight, but I gotta say I was yelling it inside my freaking head.

My favorite comment of this thread?

"There goes HOchevar's no hitter..."

How ironic.

To be honest, I know that I am not the only one who has thought that Lester in 08 had been a tad underwhelming. I feel more than a bit guilty in admitting that I was cursing Lester for immediately going into the crapper after the Sox got him the lead with a lead-off walk and a throwing error...and so I'm thinking, "Watch, this is going to lead to a bunch of KC runs and..." WOW, like not EVEN close to the ultimate story line.

[Sam-YF]

Great job by Lester. A feel good story for sure, amazing to see someone come so far back from such a disease. Kudos.

On another note, Im amazed by how many comments there were about the yankees on this thread. As SF said what the hell are you guys thinking about the yankees for? I for one have no idea what the Red Sox did the days that Cone and Wells threw their perfect games.

[LocklandSF]

Holy mother of god that was awesome.

I'm still in a daze.

So, soon to be Mrs. Lockland understands that Red Sox games get first billing on the big TV, and she's a pretty good fan that doesn't mind watching a lot of games, which is nice. However, on Mondays if the Sox take a sizable lead or are getting killed, I just hit record and then we watch her Monday shows.

She could not understand why I was getting so insanely excited for every out with a 7 run lead, she was also curious why I hadn't cued up How I Met Your Mother for her.

Then it hit her and it was a really funny reaction, "Holy crap, screw Doogie Howser!"

Oh man, good times, good times indeed.

[John - YF]

Great job AG...As if times aren't hard enough for Yankee fans. Maybe you can start a Celtics gamer too! JK.

Congrats Sox fans.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Sam, force of habit. That's could be the only possible explanation.
And back in the Cone/Wells days, the Red Sox were less than an afterthought to YFs.
But your point is well-taken.