It’s been and up-and-done season for the Boston Red Sox, as they currently occupy last place in the A.L. East with a 50-64 and are 13 games back from first place. But a more important situation has brushed over the organization as their manager, John Farrell, announced he has stage 1 lymphoma and, therefore, will quit managing for the rest of the season.
As a coach for the Red Sox for three seasons, the 53-year-old underwent hernia surgery this past Monday and later found out about his diagnosis.
John Farrell on his illness and treatment (via Yahoo! Sports):
“I know we usually start out with the injury report. I’ll start out with myself on this one. Monday’s surgery for the hernia revealed that I have lymphoma.”
“Thankfully, it was detected in the hernia surgery. I can honestly tell you I’m extremely fortunate that it was found. Treatment will begin in the coming days.”
John Farrell would later ease the minds of the worrisome by referring to stage 1 lymphoma as “highly curable”:
“A little bit of a shocker to be told later that afternoon that this was going on. Like I said, I’m fortunate. Stage 1. It’s localized. It’s highly curable. I’m extremely fortunate to not only be with people with the Red Sox, but access to MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) and world class talent that can handle this.”
Farrell called it "surreal 4-5 days." Said he had no symptoms. "No loss of weight, obviously," he said, maintaining sense of humor #RedSox
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) August 14, 2015
Amidst the discovery, an outcry of support has been directed towards Farrell from players Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz:
Dustin Pedroia on Farrell: "Your heart just stops. Obviously, anybody in that room would do anything for John."
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 14, 2015
.@davidortiz on Farrell: " there is no way he could tell w/o having that (hernia) surgery..we'll give him support that he give to us always"
— Paula Ebben (@PaulaEbben) August 14, 2015
In a six-game series against the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals, Farrell pioneered the team to its first World Series title since 2007, according to Sports Reference.
Recap – 2013 World Series (Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals)
Game 1 8 Red Sox 1 Cardinals
Game 2 4 Cardinals 2 Red Sox
Game 3 5 Cardinals 4 Red Sox
Game 4 4 Red Sox 2 Cardinals
Game 5 3 Red Sox 1 Cardinals
Game 6 6 Red Sox 1 Cardinals
An in-depth look into John Farrell’s managing/coaching career.