Jordan Leandre
Young cancer survivor brings hope (and luck) to Fenway faithful, Red Sox
Jordan Leandre, 4, sings the National Anthem before the fifth game of the American League Championship series.
Boston Red Sox fans witnessed the power of perseverance and hope at Fenway Park on Monday night, even before their baseball team rallied for yet another unpredictable playoff victory.
Those qualities were embodied in 4-year-old Jordan Leandre of South Dennis, Mass., a Jimmy Fund Clinic patient and cancer survivor who sang the National Anthem before the fifth game of the American League Championship series — a nail-biting, extra-innings match-up between the Red Sox and New York Yankees that the Sox won, 5-4.
"He doesn't realize the importance of this game, but someday he'll look back and know how cool this is," Jordan's mother, Shelley Leandre, said as the youngster, sporting a Sox cap and blue shoes with red laces, waited on the warning track to take the microphone.
This was actually Leandre's third time performing the anthem at Fenway Park. After practicing at his 13-year-old brother's Little League games, Jordan first wowed the crowd at the Aug. 27 Sox-Detroit Tigers game, held the night of the WEEI Jimmy Fund Radiothon Presented by NESN. He appeared again before a game with the Texas Rangers on Sept. 4, when filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly requested that he sing while they shot live-action footage for their upcoming movie "Fever Pitch."
The gigs have been a welcome activity for Jordan, who received chemotherapy and surgery for Ewing's sarcoma and was in a leg cast for 14 months; he finished his treatments in February. His Oct. 18 rendition choked up many fans in the ballpark and drew a rousing ovation. "He doesn't take voice lessons," Shelley Leandre said as the players warmed up and stadium began to fill. "He just sings like a little boy."