Welcome back Jon Lester!!

Jon Lester is the starting pitcher for Boston Redsox. He was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA last season. Being a Redsox fan, I was very excited to see him in his sparkling rookie season, last year. I thought that he will be a great prospect. But, things changed. Lester was diagonsed with cancer last August. He underwent six rounds of chemotherapy over the next three months. But it’s a five-year process before he can be declared cancer-free, including a scan every three months during this first year. I have seen him do the press conference last year to announce this shocking news. He maintained great poise through out and his courage wass undeniable. It was definitely very hard for him. Being a cancer survior, you don't look at your life the same ever again.

Jon Lester made his first start following his cancer treatment and remission last night. Pitched well, all things considered, but just the story alone is really rather touching. Curt Schilling summed it up perfectly: Lester's start simply "wasn't about baseball." It’s no small task to return from cancer to one of the biggest stages in the sports world, starting pitcher for a major league team.

Amidst a host of negative sports stories-- from Michael vick's alleged dogfighting involvement to ongoing steroid investigation that has tainted Barry Bonds' chase of Henry Aaron's home run record to gambling scandal in NBA to Vinokurov doping in Tour de France-Lester's return to the majors is truly inspirtaional and a remarkable story. Welcome back, Jon Lester. You reminded hardcore sports fans like me, what's great about sports even with all the negativity around.

I am just really glad to see him happy and playing baseball again. What a comeback and what a story.