Biggest Fan

Jason Leader, a young cancer patient who inspired a home run by Boston Red Sox slugger Mo Vaughn and later tossed out the first pitch at a game in Fenway Park, died at at his home near Albany, N.Y. Jason was being treated for neuroblastoma, a tumor affecting the adrenal glands and nervous system, when he got a phone call from Vaughn on April 23, 1993, the day before the youngster's 11th birthday. Vaughn promised to hit a homer on Jason's birthday, and kept his pledge - hitting a 3-1 pitch from Ken Patterson out in the seventh inning of a game against the Angels at California.

It doesn't take long for a visitor to this small, foliage-speckled Shenandoah Valley town to recognize the esteem in which the Manuel family is held. At the corner of Magnolia Avenue and 21st Street, across from the public library and next to a hot dog stand called Frank's For The Memories, sits a sign that calls out, "Good Luck, Charlie, 2008 World Series. " A few blocks down Magnolia, the marquee in front of Floyd-Davidson American Legion Post 126 reads: "In Loving Memory, June Forrest Manuel.

Catcher Chris Widger, the pride of South Jersey's Pennsville High, dresses now in the uniform of the most famous team in professional sports history - the New York Yankees. If there is pressure that accompanies wearing the same pinstripes as Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle, Widger is immune. Losing a loved one, you see, has a way of putting things in perspective, a way of making baseball - even playing for the Yankees - seem oh, so trivial. "It makes the game seem not as important," Widger said the other day. Widger's sister, Toni Murphy, whom the catcher called "my biggest fan," died unexpectedly last year at age 36. She left behind a husband, Mike Murphy, and five daughters, 15-year-old Lyn and 3-year-old quadruplets Kelly, Casey, Erin and Rachel.

When Dawn Bunting talks about football, John Bunting listens. For two years in the mid-1970s, Dawn, now the Rowan College women's basketball coach, played running back and outside linebacker for the San Diego Lobos of the Women's Professional Football League. Dawn, 38, also has coached field hockey and softball, and is not bashful about giving her husband some tips on football. "She could be a great football coach, no question about it," said John Bunting, 42, the former Eagles linebacker who now coaches football at Rowan.

NICK LINDNER, star junior basketball guard from Germantown Academy, said he has always been a fan of the Patriot League. "Now," he said Tuesday via cell phone, "I'm the biggest fan in the country. " Reason: the 5-10, 165-pounder has committed to Lafayette. "I made a visit up there on Sunday and fell in love with the campus, coaches and players," Lindner said. "When we were coming out of the office, I told my mom, 'This is where I want to go.' "The feelings really did surprise me. I visited six schools [unofficially]

If Jay Sigel's round today is a mix of bogies and birdies, sadness and relief, it is because he is playing in memory of his mother, who died yesterday. Betty Sigel, 87, her son's biggest fan and herself a two-time women's champion at Bala Golf Club in the mid-'60s, died in a Florida nursing home early yesterday afternoon after two years of declining health. "She's in a better place," Sigel said last night from his home in Berwyn, where he and his wife, also named Betty, were poring over old scrapbooks.

Doug Moe made it to his long-awaited reunion in Denver on Friday night, but, whoa, his company sure was ugly. It's great to see Doug, the near-sellout crowd in McNichols Arena thought - a little more gray, a little better dressed, a little gimpier - but how'd he get stuck with these losers? The Sixers lost, 126-122, to the Nuggets, another team that isn't any prize. It was not a good way to start a four-game road trip. Last night, the Sixers began the Texas portion of the trip with a game against the Mavericks.

HE'S KID-TESTED AND mother-approved. Babe magnet George P. Bush charms women of all ages. His biggest fan may be 49-year-old Kay O'Neil, who charged through crowds yesterday and gave the hottie a bear hug. She may never recover. "Oh, I loved him," she cooed. "I got a hug and kiss and a real nice picture with him. He's awesome. " In his sharply pressed dark suit and bright red tie, George W.'s nephew did look awesome. He's the cuddly conservative. O'Neil is a server at Finnegan's Wake, the resturant on 3rd near Spring Garden, and she caught the hunk when he stopped in for a College Republicans event.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - We already knew how the New York Mets' fans felt after the Phillies completed their remarkable run to their first National League East title in 14 years yesterday. The pictures from Shea Stadium were worth a million words, including a lot of unprintable ones. So how did Philadelphia's biggest fan of the Boston Red Sox feel about the Phillies' game-clinching win and champagne celebration at Citizens Bank Park? "Congratulations," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said before his team took on the New York Giants last night at the Meadowlands.

Broad Street Baller's only question at Game 6 was whether the fired-up faithful in full-throated fury would inspire the 76ers to heed the rant of their biggest fan, 500-pound James "Big Daddy" Brister Jr. of Upper Darby, who screamed: "PLAY SOME FRIGGIN' DEFENSE! TAKE IT TO THE HOLE! DRAW THE FOUL!" The Sixers played Big Daddy Defense all night long, beat the Celtics, 82-75, and forced the series to a do-or-die Game 7 in Boston on Saturday. With 1:51 left, with the Sixers leading 78-69 but the game still in doubt, the Jumbotron focused on Big Daddy's biggest asset and he responded with belly rolls that drove the crowd berserk.

NICK LINDNER, star junior basketball guard from Germantown Academy, said he has always been a fan of the Patriot League. "Now," he said Tuesday via cell phone, "I'm the biggest fan in the country. " Reason: the 5-10, 165-pounder has committed to Lafayette. "I made a visit up there on Sunday and fell in love with the campus, coaches and players," Lindner said. "When we were coming out of the office, I told my mom, 'This is where I want to go.' "The feelings really did surprise me. I visited six schools [unofficially]

If you're a Temple sports fan, you have a horse in Saturday's Preakness Stakes. You've got to pull for King Congie, expected to be in the field for the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course, named for a man described by another Temple loyalist as "the most loyal Temple fan. " That was just one of Congie DeVito's distinctions. DeVito died on Feb. 16, at age 35, from complications of osteogenesis imperfecta, brittle-bone disease. He had 25 broken bones at birth.

Since it's early in the baseball season and Darren Lauer had thrown 75 pitches on a chilly afternoon, Council Rock North coach Matt Schram gave his ace fireballer the hook after five innings in a deadlocked contest. That should have been good news for neighboring Council Rock South. Problem was, Schram turned to another righthanded flamethrower and Division I recruit. Pat O'Leary, whose fastball has been clocked at 91 m.p.h., shut down the Golden Hawks over the last two innings and the Indians, scratching out their second unearned run in the sixth inning, prevailed, 2-1, Friday in a Suburban One League National Conference clash in Newtown.

There's a reason coaches always tell players to play smart and hard because you never know who might be watching. If the X-and-O guys ever need a future Exhibit A, they can reference JG. We take you back to Jan. 9, which turned into quite the special occasion for Joe Getz, a 5-11, 165-pound senior combination guard for Archbishop Wood High. It's not unusual for good players to attain 1,000 career points, of course. But these circumstances were likely unprecedented: When Getz reached that number vs. West Catholic, he did so with a free throw.

Markeith Mont's biggest fan is also his tiniest. There he was yesterday, all bundled up, watching a Public E basketball game from a corner of Parkway Northwest's barn-like, yet appealing gym. Well, when he wasn't taking a nap. Markeith Jr. is all of 4 months old. "He'll sit with me in the house and watch college games on TV," Markeith Sr. said. "I'll go to him, 'You know what you're watching?' And he'll just smile. " Markeith Mont, who plays every position save point guard, but might as well do that too because he boasts excellent court vision, is a 6-3, 195-pound senior at World Communications Charter.

Marcus Kelly has already proved he can run the football. Now the question becomes, how well can he run his mouth? Kelly, a 5-9, 155-pound junior, is already a talented rusher for Roman Catholic High and yesterday he produced 102 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries as the visiting Cahillites thumped Roxborough, 49-6, thus expanding their edge in the series to 28-9-2 on Thanksgiving and overall. His next assignment: Make little brother a teammate. Dimetri Kelly is also a ballcarrying whiz and last Friday night, at Villanova Stadium, he helped Immaculate Heart of Mary, of Andorra, thrash St. Joseph's/Mother of Divine Providence, 38-7, for the Philly-area CYO championship.

CONNOR DALY can describe what happened almost as if he's intently watching the game tape. That's often the way it is, of course, when a moment you can vividly remember is one you'd like to completely forget. It's last Sept. 18. Daly, then a junior starter at middle linebacker, and La Salle High are playing football against West Catholic. West opts for a rushing play that features a pitchout. Daly makes the correct diagnosis. Rushes forward with the hope of notching the tackle.