Red Sox Nation

Many moons ago, perhaps, even, many, many moons ago a now sadly deceased Aunt took yours truly to his first ever live Major League Baseball Game.
The venue was Fenway Park and the competing teams were the Boston Red Sox and the New York . As first games go, you don't get much better than that. There's not much still fresh in the mind other than the curse (Boston not wining a World Series since they flogged the Babe to the New York Yankees) was still well and truly in effect, Wade Boggs was playing for the Sox and the Red Sox lost. They did that back then. Since then, I've considered myself a member of the Red Sox Nation.
In case you don't know the curse has been lifted. In 2004 to be precise, after a memorable pennant game versus, who'd've thought it, the accursed New York Yankees, coming back from 3-0 to win 4-3. They are also the current World Series Champions. They have done this with such memorableplayers as the nonchalant left fielder Manny Ramirez, the veteran catcher Jason Varitek, 'Big Papa' David Ortiz and the current Sox who can do no wrong, Kevin Youkilis.
However, Centre Stage yesterday went to a 24 year old left-handed pitcher, Jon Lester. For such a young man, last year's winning of the World Series would've been enough to keep his Grandchildren, rapt, on his knee. That was not enough for Mr Lester. Yesterday he chose to pictch a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. I'm not sure you can call a no-hitter rare. Boston's catcher Jason Varitek has caught four including one last September. But if they're not rare, they don't come along every day. During the fourth inning of yesterday's game, Jacoby Ellsbury took an extremely athletic catch keeping the no-hitter intact. Although at that point, no-one was talking about it. A no-hitter is a game where the opposition batters do not hit the ball and successfully reach a base. As with yesterday, batters can get on base, or even score, through walks or errors but should any batter through the course of the nine innings manage to hit the ball and run to first base, that's the end of the no-hitter. One lucky swing is all it takes. And these are Major League Baseball players who usually do not need any such luck.
And to cap it all, at the end of his, fingers crossed, long career, Jon Lester may find himself looking back and, with many great achievements already, he may very well consider his greatest to be his successful battle against Non-Hodgkins Lymphona, a rare form of Blood Cancer. Jon Lester - 24 years old.