As Boston sports fans, we've been privy to an awful lot of reclamation projects of late, or, as the media likes to call them, "great stories."
Tim Thomas. Paul Pierce. David Ortiz. Tom Brady's Hair. The list goes on.
But if he makes it to Fenway Park in a Red Sox uniform, none of those stories will have a finger to touch Ryan Westmoreland's story with.
Westmoreland, who is just now a little over a year removed from brain surgery that removed a "cavernous malformation" in his brain stem, is close to facing live pitching for the first time since his procedure, according to the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson.
Westmoreland is still a long ways from being cleared to play in live games, but for someone who as recently as a year ago was just beginning to hit off a tee, he's come a long way.
His dreams, however, are still in front of him.
"I'm obviously looking, long-term, to play again, and that's never really left my mind," he said. "As far as the short-term goals go, as long as I'm getting better - whether it's fly balls, running better, throwing better - I know that by achieving those goals, that long-term goal is going to creep up on me, and I'm going to be ready for it."