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May 20, 2008
The Red Sox bullpen is in right-center, far away from from what Jon Lester was doing on the mound Monday night against the Royals.
The relievers, though, were well aware that Lester was working on a no-hitter. Manny Delcarmen noticed in the sixth inning.
They weren't terribly superstitious in the bullpen as the outs kept piling up. But they didn't want to mention the term "no-hitter" for fear of jinxking it.
"We were trying not to think about it," said Delcarmen this afternoon. "We were talking about other things, anything else."
When Lester fanned Alberto Callaspos for the final out of the ninth, finishing off his gem, Delcarmen led the charge from the bullpen to the infield in front of home plate to take part in the celebration.
"Running in to congratulate him was the fastest sprint of the year for me," said Delcarmen.
Delcarmen, who played with Lester at various minor-league stops, was thrilled for his teammate, especially given the serious health issues that threatened Lester's life, never mind his baseball career, only about 18 months ago.
"I'm so happy for him," said Delcarmen. "He's been through so much. And here he's been in the World Series (the winner in the decisive Game Four against Colorado) and now this. He keeps getting milestones and hopefully there will be more to come. It's pretty cool."
-- Steven Krasner
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 4:09 PM | Permalink
