Just say no

Only the no-hitter was in doubt as the Royals came to bat in the ninth.

"I looked up in the ninth and you're trying to keep your emotions in check," manager Terry Francona said, "and I went to say something to John Farrell and he was being a big baby next to me. It made me feel a little bit better."

No one felt good when Lester walked German to start the ninth.

"When I walked the leadoff guy," Lester said, "I had to step back and tell myself I don't have to be too fine. Let them hit the ball, let them put it in play. Let the guys behind me make the plays."

Tony Pena Jr. chopped a grounder to third. Lowell threw him out as German advanced to second. DeJesus skidded a grounder to Youkilis, who waved off Lester and made the play himself. Two out.

Up came Callaspo, who had entered the game for Grudzielanek in the bottom of the seventh, Royals manager Trey Hillman deciding that Grudzielanek's night (the dropped popup, two whiffs, a comebacker to Lester) had been tough enough.

"The last at-bat? To be honest, I don't even remember," Lester said. "I do know that early in the at-bat he fouled off a good curveball and a good cutter. We'd be doing that all night, throwing the four-seam cutter in, then try to go with the four-seam fastball away. We got some swings and misses and some bad contact."

This would be a swing and miss. Lester thrust both fists forward before being lifted in the air by Varitek, who himself made history by tying the major league record for no-hitters caught (four).

Francona whispered something in Lester's ear.

"This probably isn't fair to say, but I feel like my son graduated and my son threw a no-hitter," said Francona, whose son Nick had graduated from Penn earlier in the day, and who had grown close to Lester during his ordeal.

Farrell, who had lost a no-hitter to the Royals with two outs in the ninth on a May night in 1989, beamed.

"Joy," he said. "You feel joy for a kid like that."

Winning the final game of a World Series. Throwing a no-hitter. How do you pick between them? You don't, Lester said.

"The World Series is obviously the World Series," he said. "How many people get to say they've won that? A no-hitter is a no-hitter. How many people can say they've done that?

"They're both up there. They both mean a heck of a lot to me. It's something I'll cherish for a long time."

He won't be alone.