No-No

SPORTING GOODS

The story of Jon Lester's no-hitter last night is certainly an inspiring one. Here's a guy who's lucky to be in baseball (and/or alive), much less attain one of pitching's greatest feats.

I saw the last two innings, and it was amusing to watch. The players in the dugout wouldn't even look at Lester (and vice versa), and the tv announcers, of course, would not utter the word, "no-hitter," until the 27th out was in the books.

I certainly don't want to take anything away from Lester's magnificent achievement, but, my God, do the Royals stink. The first two batters Lester faced in the ninth have batting averages of, respectively, .103 and .169. I had to like his chances with those ducks starting off the last inning.