MLB’s Shining Stars

With Bonds getting most focus from baseball fans these days, two stories from the past few days deserve more attention. First, Jon Lester’s return to the mound after beating cancer and second, Craig Biggio’s retirement announcement. Lester’s story is inspirational and should motivate other people, child or adult, to fight against cancer as hard as they can. As Biggio ends his career, he can only be seen as the ultimate professional, the perfect teammate, and a community leader. If only these stories could overshadow Bonds and the circus of media that follows.

Lester was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma on August 23rd of last year. Since then, he has successfully conquered the long road back to the major leagues, from chemotherapy to half a year at Triple A. Last night’s start, his first start in the majors since the diagnosis, was a moment he will never forget and his family will never forget. That first pitch was a moment that should have gained more publicity from ESPN. They have live cut-ins to every Bonds at bat, but can’t show one pitch from Lester. Even though it wasn’t covered by ESPN, Lester still made his start and shined in it. The Sox batters even provided support for Lester before he took the mound, putting a four spot up in the top of the first. Lester completed the hardest comeback possible, defeating cancer, and now he is finally back in the major leagues, striking out batters and racking up wins.
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The Perfect Treatment For Bonds

As Barry Bonds inches closer to home run 756, the media attention continues to increase and scrutinize every move made by the all-star left fielder. Whether you hate Bonds or you love him, all of this attention over him breaking Aaron’s record gives Bondsbonds1.jpg justification that he is the true home run champion. If everyone ignored Bonds and his home run chase, than how could Barry feel like he had accomplished anything? If no one cared when he broke the record, Bonds would feel as if it didn’t matter and that he truly was undeserving. All of this media attention is playing right into Bonds hands.

What if no one did anything when he hit 756? What if no articles were written on it and fans sat in the stadium ignoring him? The only think worse than being hated, is when no cares about you. That is the perfect treatment for Bonds. No articles. No interviews. No clapping. No booing. Nothing. Just silence. Think about the message that would send to Bonds and other players using steroids: You Don’t Count. All of your achievements are meaningless, because you cheated to get them and we are not going to recognize you for anything you accomplish.

Red Sox Feeling the Pressure

The Red Sox recent woes cannot be blamed on the pitching, only on the Sox untimely hitting and inability to produce in pressure situations. In the last five games, the Sox are 1-4 and have amassed only 15 runs. With the Sox only scoring three runs a game, the pitching staff needs to be nearly perfect. The only win in their last five games was a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals in which Kason Gabbard pitched a complete game shutout. Perfection. The worst part about the Sox lack of runs is that they have had more than enough opportunities. Continue reading “Red Sox Feeling the Pressure”