All In The (Lester) Family

As the Santana trade rumors continue to swirl, Jon Lester’s name is also still being bandied about in connection with various possible Sox-Twins deals. The Seacoast Online has a great (and very sweet) interview with a cousin of Jon’s talking about, among other things, the possibility of Jon being traded from Boston.

You can read the whole thing at the link above, but I pieced together this story below about Jon’s first ever visit to Fenway Park back at the age of 10:

[Joe] Pongrace has been there since the beginning — literally. He saw Lester pitch during his journey through the minor leagues and was at the first game the 23-year-old lefty pitched at Fenway Park. But Pongrace was there the first time a 10-year-old Jon Lester visited the storied ballpark in 1994.

Yep, the first time little Jon went to a game at Fenway Pongrace was right there beside him. He is Lester’s second cousin; Joe and Lester’s mom, Kathie, are first cousins.

As for that day 13 years ago at Fenway Park, when 10-year-old Jon wasn’t yet old enough to pitch for the Red Sox, it remains a special one for the Pongraces. There’s even a picture on a dormitory wall at Springfield College showing Matt Pongrace, Joe’s eldest son, on Lester’s shoulders on the weekend of that game. Matt is 18 now and could conceivably break Lester’s shoulders were he perched atop them, but needless to say he still displays that picture with pride. Plus, being related to Jon Lester must give him serious street cred.

That trip to Fenway when Lester was 10 was apparently a sign of things to come. The only difference is, Jon is now on the field and Joe is still in the stands. And that suits him just fine.

“The first time I saw Jon pitch at Fenway, I got to sit next to his mother — my cousin — and you couldn’t believe the excitement,” he said. “It was obvious how nervous she was. But what a treat it was to be there with her.”

A neat little factoid about Lester’s first start at Fenway on June 10, 2006, and his first visit to Fenway 11 years ago, according to Joe: There was a rain delay prior to both games.

I love these stories taking us back to the wide-eyed childhood of the guys. I’d love to know how many of the team visited Fenway as kids- and how old they were when they did.

And what about the Santana carousel of rumors?

[W]hen addressing those trade rumors, Joe didn’t mince words on his feelings about Lester being shipped to Minnesota or anywhere else for that matter.

“That would suck,” he said.

Spoken like a true Red Sox fan — and a loyal cousin.

I like this Joe guy.