BOSTON -- Some thoughts on the news that Red Sox manager John Farrell is battling Stage 1 lymphoma:
1) I wasn't with the Red Sox for their two-game series in Miami, but I remember thinking that was strange when news emerged that Farrell arrived at Marlins Park Tuesday, accompanied by team internist, Dr. Larry Ronan.
Farrell had undergone surgery to repair a torn hernia the day before in Detroit, but that's a relatively minor procedure, performed all the time.
In retrospect, it's obvious now that Ronan was accompanying Farrell to help guide him through the news that lymphoma had been discovered during the hernia surgery.
For a period of more than three days, exactly four people knew of this diagnosis: Ronan, the Detroit Tigers' internist, Dr. Gary Talpos, who performed the surgery, and Farrell himself.
It's amazing is that, in this day and age of the 24-hour news cycle, word did not get out sooner. Even GM Ben Cherington, who was on his way to the Red Sox Single A affiliate in Greenville, S.C. Thursday when Farrell phoned to tell him the news, didn't know.
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2) Call it fate, or the intervention of some higher power, but if Farrell hadn't suffered the hernia issue a week ago in New York, the lymphoma would have gone undetected -- at least for a while.
Instead, the hernia resulted in Farrell seeking medical attention, having the problem surgically addressed, and, in the process, quite possibly saved his life.
Until the procedure, Farrell exhibited none of the usual symptoms associated with lymphoma: no fatigue, no night sweats, no unexplained weight loss. Farrell noted in his press conference that the cancer was detected early -- hence the ''Stage 1'' designation -- and that his odds of a full recovery were strong.
That almost certainly wouldn't have been the case had Farrell not injured himself tossing the equipment bag.
Whatever your thoughts are about faith, this entire episode is testament to how little power we sometimes have over life's circumstances and how seemingly unrelated developments can be connected.
3) Cancer doesn't discriminate. It finds victims both young and old, regardless of occupation, or race, or gender. But it's striking to see how many times it's struck the Red Sox organization.
There was Jon Lester, who, like Farrell, was stricken with lymphoma when he was in his early 20s and the very embodiment of healthy.
There was Anthony Rizzo, now the All-Star first baseman with the Chicago Cubs, but once a top minor league prospect in the Red Sox' system, was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in his first full season in Boston's minor league system.
Outgoing president and CEO Larry Lucchino staged his own battle with cancer years before joining the organization, and star pitcher Curt Schilling was diagnosed after he retired from the Sox.
And, of course, there's the Red Sox' decades' long association with the Jimmy Fund, which dates back to Ted Williams and has been the team's charity of choice for as long as anyone can remember.
All season long, the Jimmy Fund logo is prominently displayed on Fenway Park's Green Monster in left.
Farrell's announcement comes a week before the team stages its annual radiothon/telethon for the Jimmy Fund. My guess is, if he's at all able to do so physically after beginning chemotherapy treatments, Farrell will find a way to take part in that.