On the field, I've gone from numb to psyched for the final month of baseball. We're in this race. Great job by Snyder tonight.

Off the field, it's just one thing after another. Terry looked like he'd been crying when I saw him at the press conference. Papelbon is now hurt. He says he may just need a few days. Hopefully nothing serious. Schilling will now be missing a start, after stiffening up after his last one--so tomorrow we start Kevin Jarvis, pitching for his tenth team.

But the worst news is Jon Lester. As Royal Tenenbaum said, he's "got a pretty bad case of cancer." They try to make it seem like good news that it's "treatable." But the truth is there's no cure for what he's got. Such a young guy. So sad. He will have to undergo chemo most likely, and even if it goes away, it could come back at any time in his life.

Did I ever tell you I thought Lester looks like Sid Vicious? I mean, if you put Sid in a baseball uniform and cleaned him up a little, of course. Sid's real name was Jon, too, actually. Here's hoping our Jon's got a little Sid in him to fight off this disease. You know, sneer and spit at the thing.

Papi should be back Monday, though. I'll be there. What a moment that'll be, when he's announced. And Tek and Trot and Gonzo won't be far behind. We've got head-to-head action with all three teams we're chasing, so we've got a shot. Just don't think about Jarvis, Gabbo, and [unknown] being our starters. It's better for your mental health, trust me.

Scarlet Fever tells us what really happened on that ball that the dude knocked over the wall. (Scroll down for video. No, past the nickname thing. No, keep going, past the Arabian Knights cartoon from 1968. There ya go.)

A note about perspective. Even if it was true that serious off-field issues "put things in perspective," how about we just don't use it because it's really, really cliched? But if you do use it, think about it: Did you really forget that people get diseases because you hadn't heard of someone close to you getting one lately? Do you normally watch baseball and think, "Wow, everything's right with the world"? I'm not saying I go around reminding people not to have too much fun because they might die and that there's too much suffering in the world to think about baseball or YouTube videos or cotton candy. But when I hear the dreaded "this really puts it all in perspective" line, it makes me think the person doesn't care about bad things as long as they don't directly affect them. Of course bad things happening to you or your loved ones hurt more than if it were a stranger. But perspective? Don't we have that already? Why do we gain perspective only to lose it again so quickly that we are forced to gain it every single time somebody has a health problem? How about this--if you're only just now getting perspective, hang on to it! Realize that bad things are happening constantly all over the world. When they happen to you, do your best to make lemonade, or better yet, squeeze that lemon til the juice runs down life's leg. And live, dammit, as a wise person once shouted. When someone else is suffering, make them laugh. And when someone dies, celebrate who they were and make someone else laugh using a joke the dead person once told you.

I think Bob COSE-tass said this better than me once. But I tried. (That link isn't to Costas taling about this. It's just a funny skit featuring Costas that me, Chan, and apparently JS have always liked.)