September 01, 2006
Health Woes
Jon Lester does indeed have cancer.
Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Jon Lester has a form of lymphoma and will begin treatment within the week, the team said Friday.
The 22-year-old left-hander was placed on the disabled list Monday with back pain, but tests revealed enlarged lymph nodes. The team said Lester has a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
There's more information on the disease here:
Systemic ALCL can involve lymph nodes and extranodal sites acting aggressively but responds to chemotherapy used to treat other large cell lymphomas. The systemic form is associated with a t(2;5) chromosomal abnormality, leading to the production of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) protein. This so-called "classic" ALCL is most common in children and adolescents.
Meanwhile, Brad Radke's career may be over:
Twins pitcher Brad Radke has a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury Minnesota doesn't necessarily think will end his season.
Radke's injury, to the glenoid area of the shoulder joint, is a rare condition and was not detected in previous exams, the Twins said Friday. Dr. Dan Buss recommended that he not throw for two to three weeks.
Radke is going to retire at the end of the season. If the Twins don't make the playoffs, he may not pitch again.
Update: Sorry to not have written this last night, but I hope both players make speedy and full recoveries.
Terrible news about both guys. Here's hoping Lester can recover and have the nice career everyone is expecting of him.
As for Radke, it'll be a shame if this is how it ends for him. He's been a solid pitcher and, for some years, was the shining light on some bad Twins teams.
Cola
http://www.classiccolaforthesoul.com
Wow, that's horrible.
On a totally unrelated note, David, I'm curious if you've ever thought about doing open threads for ballgames individually (which, granted, some of your posts effectively are), or collectively (I realize this is probably more the province of individual team blogs, and that your commenting base here probably also spends some time at those places for that kind of thing).
Plus, I'd like to get someone's take on whether it was silly of the Sox to send Pedroia home (where he got thrown out on a single to left), or of the Jays to send Bengie Molina to third (where he got thrown out tagging on a fly to right) half an inning later. It wouldn't surprise me if third-base coaches were slightly superstitious in that situation - I mean, the guy standing where you are *just* got a guy thrown out after you sent him, so you're staring at Bengie Molina at second on a fly ball and thinking, "I bet he can make it!" (maybe that's cruel of me to say, but so's telling Molina to tag on a short fly, assuming no unusual circumstances)
Best of luck to Lester. I hope he recovers fully, so the Yankees can oppose him for many years.
Best wishes to Lester.
Oh, and Papelbon just left the game with an apparent shoulder injury.
This has gone beyond being ridiculous.
wow, even Yankee fans are now feeling terrible for the Red Sox, they need some serious fung sui check or something....
And to put the cherry on top...Schilling's missing his next start with a muscle strain in his right side. Next week: Loretta has a freak accident with a weed whacker, and Youkilis gets struck by lightning while shagging a fly ball in front of the Monster...