2O IULINARY ADVENTURESYOU I\4UsTTAKE NOWEY ALEXANDRA HALL

tEuDe R CIFTllEWITH CO ACE CLAY BUCHHOLZ.

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THE BED SOX OPENTHE SEASOITTEIS MONTEASWORID SERIESFAVOBTIES TEANI'STO A DEADLY COLI,ECTION OF HITTENS. ItrHAT THETRE DEPENDING ON I'ON A

CEAMPIONSHIP, TSOUGH, A.n,E PITCHEN,S JON LESTER AND CLAY BUCHSOLZ. GIVEN WHATTHE TWO YOUNG STA.N,SEAIIEAIN,EADY OVENCOME, THAT'S A COMFORTING TIIOUGHT.

BY PETER RICHMOND

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her€ on the frayingfringes ofFort Myerc,where modem spmwlmelts into native Florida, aIId ciq'into country past squat singl€-storyhouses, auto-bodyshops, and an old c€ment plant, there is anunassuminglow-slungcomplex,thesp nghomeof averyinterestingbaseball team. Inside the place, two men sit at the end ofthe pitchers'row, locker-room chairs back-to-back: the most important players, itmay surprise youto know, on ateam ofthem.

Clay Buchholz is the one with the scrawny Gumby physique, thewid€-eyed, iffrocent smile andthe longbrown locks curlingat the napeofhis neck, stnmningquiet chods on his Martin D-16 pausing onlyto spit thejuice ftom his Cop€nhagen into an emptywater bottle thatrests on anearby stool. Jon Lester is the bigger one, solidlybuilt, w€ar-ingcamouflage shots, a camouflage-print necklace, and an impassive,squinting-gunsLnger expression: the marks of the de€rslayer.

There is Iittle in the way ofgiddiness with these two despite thelocker-roombanter that swirls around them-the frivolity oflate-Februaryprofessionalbaseball playersbefore spring-traininggameshave begun. Shortstop Marco Scutaro holds up a pair oflime-greenpanties with abutt reading "Friday." Closer Jonathan Papelbon Iobs apairof deats tiedbytheir shoestrings over afl uorescent lightbanhwherethey catch a]rd dangle like oversize baby shoes. Second baseman DustinPedroia swings abat the way BravehearfsMelGiE son niields a club.

l,ester and Buchholz are oblivious to the squall around them,though. They have larger concems. On atealnt}lat is suddenly,preposterously, almost laughablygood, they mustbe the best ofall.

THE REDSOX LASTYEAR openedto high expectations, but ihet sea-son devolved o\,€r the sunmer intosonething approachingbitter-ness, as th€ disabled listclaimedwe.more stas, dd studpitchersJosh Beckett dd John LackeyundeMhelmed. The season endedwith the Sox finishingbehind notonly the mercenaryYanhees butalso the built-from'scratch TampaBay Rays. No plalofs, in otherworG, for Red Soxfds who havecome to see them as somethingtheyare owed. Ard the whole thirgwould have been evenworse wereit notfor the pitching ofLesterand Buchholz who each had anace-levelyear winning19 ud r7gmes, respectively. Theywer€ thelone bright spots in an otheMise

So dreary and darlq in fact, thattheRedSoxbrass decided drBticmeasures wer€ in order was theresone chmce that fans-threewhole seasons r€moved fromthehstchmpionship wer€beginning to lose faith? Not afteran ofi'season in rhich the Soxtraded for one ofthe gamet besthitte.s,sluggingfi rstbasemanAdrian conzalez, and signed oneofthe verybest all-a.oud play-ers inbaseball" outfi€tder CarlCra$ford. The nessage frommanagement was cleari We wiilwin. And we will win now.

OiherSoxteams have been thisgood the'o3 md'04 editions cometo mind. Butbacktheq you didn thaveeveryone from Newton toNewHmpshire considering aWorld Series trophyhis bLthdght.This year, thougl!ll1th Pedroia ddKevinYoukilis and JacobyEllsburyhealthy md BigPapihittingwell,ud crawfod stea.lingbases, ddcoMalez driving him dd everf'body else hone-d'ihingle$ thmaringwilrest t in

'llfritigatedmge, ifnot open revollFor all this teamt hiiting talent,

though, dd for all the mediat

|lfocus on it, it is the Sox slitchingtlratwilldennctheirsuccess.

Beckett is good but nobody iser?ecting much, given his injurjesandfcceDtpoo.Pe ormance.Lackeymay$€ilbe pasthis prine.And Daisul<e Matsuzaka is aluaytaquestion. Th. season rests,then,ontheperformancc of Lesterand Buchholz. urhich nayhavesomethnrgtodowilh lheirserious lookshere inthe locke. rcom:Theexpectations have never beenhigher,theprc$urenever greater.The ians nay not know ityet,butthh is L€sterand Buchholztclub. Notihat they'd everadnitasnuch.AskLester and !11 he'll say is,.O!rteamhasalotto prove."

Olco!Ne, givenwhat these twohavefacediDthep!st pr€ssuresmore intense thanthelureuitof apcnnant thcre may bc fcw play-eN on the teambcttcrequippedrohandlewhat thehosr h!?edseasoneve.willbring.

JoN LESTER wasalwaysapjtcherin a rush. The Sox s iiNt lick in2002, Lesiersignedforacool mil-ljonsraightout of his Tacoma,Washington,high school. He thensrentfouryears c.uisingth.oughthe system, meetingallthe outsizecrDectations aDd.eachingthetopin2006.

He wonhisfi Ntfive decisionsqjth the Red Sox. BDtas theh!?e

greq he began to un.avel, the EnAsoadngabove Tinhislast scvenstarts. He had grom up waichingtheSeaitle Marinersin afl anneledtoMwherc sponshoveredsomewherebetween pleasantdiversionand cultural aft erthought.AndLesterhimself hadneverknoMathlctic advosiry. But nowihepre$ure to succeed inbaseballtcaihedralwassquee2ingthe confi dehce dgbt outof the kid. Thegmehadbeconeajob.

wo.se The high-prjced stud.ookie on aveteEn staf-CultSchillingandTimWakefi eldwcre39,MikeTinlinw.s40 feitalonc."Itwasn t fun,'he says. 'lt was toomuch, well, t.ying to fit in. We wereaveryveteEnteam. I didn'treallyhave a place. I didn't ii in rvith atToup." He wonied constanuy:"Do my ieanmaies likc me? Domyteahhates f espect me?'

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The., of cource, cametherews.ThatAugust, Lesterwas involvedin aminortraflic accidcntonhisway to Fenway. The back painlingered, and then grew worse.Atrip tohis dociorbroughl theshockingdiagnosis: non'Hodgkinsanaplasticlarge'cellllmphoma.Cancer. Raised with a sense ofstoicismbyamoiherwhomaintains the big trucks for PierceCounty, Washjngton, and a fatherwho's a sherif, t€ster gieeted tbediagnosis without self !jty. Hkfirsi thoughtwas, Okay: What do weneed io do to get rid ofthis ihing?

Edlytreaimentswere Nccesstul, andbyspringof 2002 Leslerlelt ready to pitch at Fenway, TheSox, though,waDted to send hindom to rehab. Mrqf 6 tlere torehdb? Nathins\ hurt- Nothingbu,"0n9. But dom he weni, ioSingle Acrcenville. And it wasthere thathebegantobenoanhis!]ight, thatt,e felt.ruellytreatedbyfate, thathe!itiedhimsell

AndthenhegothimseU

''Onenightl'n icingnyshoulder," Lester recalls. 'And aboutfourotherliuys and I justsataDdialked about baseball till, like,2 in the norning. Theyl€ askinghequestions,thcytelSor19,andthey're looking up to me the wayIln lookingupto Josh orSchill.Just sitting in theclubhouse and

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The Tampa Bay Rays,

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wasoiferedafootbalLschoLa6hiparihe Un ve.s tyof Nebraska bef oreTampa Bay

' Was lason Varitek spersonali inx.HeoncestoLesixbasesoifTek in asinglesame (thecLeats hewore ar-P row in theHaltof Fame),and heoncebrokethe catcher's loot with

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TheSar DleaoPadresriiri:i i,4N San Die8o, Calilornia

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' Batt€d.559 nhislasttwoyeaBof h ghschool,andwasnamedcalliornla s player oithe year

ls paltoiaiamllyota fted batlplayers. Fisf ather was a iop pronMexico,and hisbrolhe( EdEa(Flayed iorthe Padres. conzalez,h stwo brcthers,and hisfatheronce atl pLayed on the same

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ALLSIGNS

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POINT TO...TOTALLYUNSCIENTIT'ICPREDICTIONS FOR TIIE:011RED SOX SIASON

Numb€rof gamespitched by Dice-xthatwillhecompleted inlesstfi anfouhours

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Dateonwhichfanswi l ls ta l t (a l l ingWEElto bitch about David oltiz'sslow start

APR,II?oddsthat J.D.Drcw puued hls hamstring

whil€ you were leading this story

REDSOXRECORDTHISYEAR

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ta]}ing to other guys, talkingaboutbaseball." Their passionput a lot inperspeciive. "Reallyhebed me getback and appreciate dacdywhatI do," he says. Baseball, in otherwords,weDt backto being agdne.

Lester's numbers in Greenville:three stdts, an EFA of 2.08. "Hew.5 havingfun " says Gabe Kapler,his manager during the quick

From Greenville, Lester kepthaving tun, coasiingthrough arehab dsignment in Portldd,pausing in Pawtucket, andreceivingthe call from FeNray inJuly2o0z onoctober28,h€wonthe deciding game olthe WorldSe.ies against ihe Rockies. Now

Bythetime fhe 2008 seasonbegan, JonLesterhadreacheda tuming point. His trip backthrough the minols had talghthin to enjoyihe gane and alsonot io mope aier every loss, orcelebrateafrereverywin incldinga no hitter, which came in Mayofthat yea! againsr the Royals.His combined 3.3r ERAfor'08and'o9 eaned him a long+ermdeal, signed in 2009: fiv€ years,$30 nillion. And while many players tend to slack ofat the startof abig-moneyconfu act,in2oroLester climbed as hieh as he everhad: 19 victories. Ee dbecome the

wllat hs he ledned along theway? Don tlose youseuinihemoment.Average oui the numbersIrom yourpastthree healthyyeam,od thafs nore orless where tou llb€ atthe endofeachl€ar slumpsud streak notwithstanding.

This newpespective hsaltered howhet dealtwiihhisillness, too. Nearing five yedswithout cancer, he now}nowsthai het an inspiration to otherpatients-a role that he desper-aielyavoided at the start.

"l don'twant to be Jon Lester,cdcer surivor," he said twoyears ago. "I want to be Jon Lesier,

'"w€[ tough shit'he sars now."l'm goingio be a cancer suryivor

It doesnt matrerwhat I think. Ittook me a couple ofyears to matureand understand, to figure out lhatpeople needto see me that way."

as rs so oFTEN the case withyoung menwho stumble, thehisstep was ofclay BuchnobtoM doing. He was an 18 year oldfteshmo at McNeese State inLouisiana, pitching od piayingshortstop. One night in 2003 hedd abuddy drcve backto hishometoM of Lmberton, Texas,dropped through the ceiling ofclay s old middle school, m4likea couple of,]l4rssion: Inpossrblewmabes, dpled of29 laptops.

Hewas shot on c6h at the time,dd the laptopswere "just awaytohal<e money," Buchholz says now,with atrace ofd embadassedsmile. "That!dl itfr sforme."Butthis ms also a moral felonyjitbrcught shme to his parenttspecificallyhis father, who had togiven up on semipro bseba]l to

At the tilne ofthe thefi,Buchholzhadhardlyexpectedbaseballto prwide a career.McNeese Siate wasn't exactly abreedinggmund for ihe MajorLeagues, and hdd-throwingright-handers weren't a rde comodity."I knewthat it was a longshot-high school to college io pro bal,"Buchlolz says. But because ofthestunt, nowthe.ewasn t baseballofdy sort: McNeese State kicked

''I paid for it, dd I had a lot ofpeople I had to apologize to," Buch-holz says ofthe laptop ihefts. "ltms not agoodpoint in mylife-I haven'tnade a life-changing

Buc}lnolzwas embanassed,buthelovedbaseballtoo muchtoabandonit he?grcmupidolizingno less a performerthmNolan Ryan-and the gme, what-ever the prospects, ws his onlymdketable trade. So in 2004hee oled atAlg€lina College up inLullir, Tes, two hous north ofLunberton, detemired to givebaseball his tull atieniion. The n€rtspring, he took the mound for d

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sintrasquad gamc undcrthcwatch-ful eye ol.oach JetrLilin.

''I qrs urpidng, 'Livin .ecalls,"bec.use I like tostand behnrd thepiicheN,becauselwanttobeinihcircaf . tstrtthat day, therervasD'trnvthing to say. Clay faccd si\bane.s andsruchotrtcveryone.No one got!balonasingle pitch.Hethrelrnine or ten changeups,"

"\ hythrow that? 'the coach

'''Cause I fclt likc thmwingir, 'Buchholz replied. Docsn'tnr.ttef whrtI lh.orv.They.e

BuchhoLzrvent r2-l !tADgelina,his conlidcncc expandingas lisEr|Ashrank;bythccndof thcycari twrsasrunning1.05.I iwas2005,and Buchholzhad made hihsellageDUine pros!e.tar anespeciallyfor-tuito!s time fo.the RedSox.

Thc minorleague systetn RedSox gcncralmanagoTheo Epsteininherited in 2002was slow-footcdandprospect free ashamblcs.At]1is il.st o.ganizalional meetnrgs, he'dspokenol buildingthemachine." So his decisn,n threeyeaf s laterto select Bu.hholz inthc nNt roundrefl ected theyoungGMt dctomination to gather ihebest availabl€ taleni, cvcn ifa play-er's past was xbil che.kercd.

Forhis !r.1, Bu.hholzwasdclighted: Irv!s goingto luvea

chancc to llay with guys I dbccn waiching on T\',' hc says.He clinbed eaily through the Soxsystem. Withir threc yea.s he wasrtTriple AP,{-tucketunderthetutelage of nDn!g€r non Johnson(nowthcSox\liNt b!sccoach).Johnson kDcw nnmediaiclythatthekidwouldntspcndalotoft imeinPastu.ket ."Hehadthat Bugs BuDnychangeup,thc tastball, ihe cune, aDd iheslidcr. I thoughi, Thisco!ldbethc nNt exy I sarv come throughthc systcn $'ith Jrbu.abovc

Ruchholz {'rs cdllcd uptoFeD{'ay or A! gust rZ 2007 Inhis sccond majoFlergue start-about a nonih aiter Jon Lcstcfhadreturncdf om his rchabtrip rhrough the minors hcno hitlhe O.ioles.Andhe diditemph,tically. HewassotarincomDrand oleverylhinghe d jd,"

says JasonVaritek, $,ho caughthin that day "Itwasjusias!ecial,nagical morncnt." The no-nowas the f, rst cvcrbya Bostonrookie. By the endoftheseason,Bu.hholzwds3 I $'ith an ER4.ofr.59 rndthrtOciobe.,{'ithLesterpitchnrgthe clinchnrggarnc,thc SoxwoD thei.secoDdworldScdcs hlburyeaN.

Thus didBuchholzwaltz intoFort Myes the follosing!ebruary

Iiguinghervouldpickup ins!ringbaininglvhef e heAleft ofi .Instead, he iellon hisface. Hehrd thesoNt springof anypitcheron st,f,IIisno hitterhadbccnpitched f.ee of presure. Butno$', belbrc the expectrnt eYes ofRcdSox Nation, his conlldencecNmblcd.Aftcrbarclymakingth€big leagueroster,hclosiniDeolhiselelen decistuns.Andqith cvctt,hitsu endered,hefoundhinsclfihnikiDg, Here rve go again.

Lr late August, Euchholz ivasscnibackto the mnloN, alllhe\'!y down to Doubl.-APorthDd.''It sas sorrotashoiio thelace,"he says. PortlandpitchingcoachMike Cathe.stripped Bft hholztapproach toDitchingbacltdownio thcbasics. Slowly, the su.cessbcganto rcturn. Euchholz stdedthe nextyearinthe minoF, andhe dazzled. Hc domnFtedaft er,t.omolbn LoPawtuckct (onenighttaknrga pe.fect ganc iniotheninth inDing), dnd edrncdhiswaybackto FeD{',yin midseason,hnmblcdandhuDg,r. lle wonscvcn gamcs and lostlburover the

Conjngof th.tstrong secoDdhalf in 2009, Btrchholzcnteredthe 2010 season deternincdtohaveashortmemo.y. Therescregamesl!sc.e$upev.ryDowandthen,"hesays, butit

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was the five daF in between iharwere ditrerent than the prcviousyears. I forgot about that gameandwentforth and justpitchedthenertone." He fi nisheda sen-

anda 2.33 EFA,secondbestin the

Thaieven keeltemperamentsuitsBuchholz-one lossis jusioneloss, which means that one win isjust ihat, too. Win or lose, though,Buchholz is playing for somethingmore thd the uniforn. lle saysihesuccessof lastseason,andwhathe'll face this y€ar, is reallya waytohonor his faiher, the md he d letdoM dd shmed with his teenagetransgessions. The mdwho dalways wanted him to be the brllplayerhe couldnotbe."I'm livinghis life for him, is what I trr to dothese dals," says the son, a smilelightingup his face.

THETwoMENwtLLneedtheirne*.found matDrity. The expectationisforeachtowin20 gamesihis year. Bothknowit. And Lestersks for someihing in return:paiience fromamediascrumthaiis so oft en, well, immature in iisjudgment of the Sox, deliveringpitch'by-pitch tweets andfreakouts aft erlosses inApril.

To Lester, a l<id who grew upin the shadowof Mouni Rainier,

nshing in the local lake, thcdiscordantimmediacyof iheBosion prcss puis undue !ressure on ihe tean,somethinghebelieves has contributed to itss!asnodicperfo.mances overthelastiewyeare. ThethiDgh,"hesays, ' i t thardnottocomeintotheclubhouse andgetcaughtupinihai ulgency lthe Boston medialbrings.Thatnakes itha.donus.I know it's thei. job. Iti whatihcyhave to do...but, I:I/e rescrepedland allthis stuf ?Whcn wc're stillinApril and they'rc talkingaboutus notmakingthe playotrs?

"we're only huhan. I knows€getpaidahel lof a lot toomuchhoneytoplaythis game.Butit'snotli}e {'e haveabuDch of a$-holes oDthis teamwho don'tcare.Everrone iD that locker roomcares. Everyone in that lockerroomlastyearcared. Foryoutogive up onsoneonebecause theyhadabad moDthorcoupleof

"I don't ihinkii's fair to give upon guys," he continues. So, who hadthc pre$ givcn up on? Papi? CaptainVaritePHimselfl Allof them?

He declines to say, Butthe.e jsperhaps soheiningelse iu Lestef sdeclaration. The world is expectedof histeamthisyearAnditmaybe thaiif s his team hc\ actnallyaddresing:,9ra.y D rle monert

Ttu t in eoch othe I Believ e in the

lN FORT MYERS, it's timetotrletheneld. Outside the ]o.ke.rcom, afewhudred rabid fans c.owd againstthe wbite plastic fences as the menof s!ringjogliomihe lockerroon,beneath a gidt, sheltcring oak, out

DusiinPedmia is liretout ofihebuilding, andhe receives

Then JoDathaD Papelbonissc.e,medaft er, andthenBc.keit,and then thc newguy, Crawford.Youkgctsa thunderous chorus,andihc cheerfor BigPapi swells high

Sonewhere iDbetween,though, the two!itchers jog out.Theyare afordeda!olitewel-come-Dothingspccial. Thei.silent but viial voyages have madeno headlines, noSporlJC.,a.rTop Tens. Neithe.of tbem cares,Because come November, if theydo theirjobs .ight, the cameraswill knowshereto focus. tr

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