Jon Lester
Jon Lester
Jonathan Tyler Lesteris an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. He previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox from 2006 to 2014 and the Oakland Athletics in 2014. Less than two years after being diagnosed with lymphoma, Lester started and won the final game of the 2007 World Series for the Red Sox, and in May 2008, pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth7 January 1984
CountryUnited States of America
Pitchers really don't deal with the managers a whole lot. When we come in the clubhouse, we see him, we say, 'Hey.' That's really it.
You can learn a lot from him. He's a vocal guy anyway. Whenever we're talking about drills and certain things, he's going to tell you what he thinks. Just watching him go about his business, he does it the right way. He does it professionally and gets his work in.
One thing I know in baseball is you should never be comfortable where you are. It doesn't matter who you are. It's a business. If I got traded tomorrow, no hard feelings; it's a business.
My dad has ingrained that in me: 'Be accountable.'
Just as I'm fortunate to pitch in the big leagues, I'm also fortunate for the time I get to spend outdoors.
My wife's family lives up in South Carolina, so we go back and forth quite a bit up there.
Growing up, it was mainly just players I followed more than teams, with the exception of the Mariners. I never really had time to follow a team throughout a season.
The Red Sox believe what's written. If it's written that I should be traded, more times than not, that's what ends up happening. Look at the people who've gotten traded around here. It's not their doing.
Usually during the regular season, if you're starting pitcher, you're kind of walking back and forth from the clubhouse to the dugout and not really paying attention to what's going on.
Once I got settled in, I started throwing the ball a lot better.
Anytime you can see a hitter and face a hitter, you gain knowledge, and you gain that experience. Whether they hit a homerun off you, or you strike them out or whatever it is, it's information.
That's all right, too. What was important was me learning how to pitch. What each of us accomplishes helps the team.
As I travel the country for away games, I meet kids fighting cancer in almost every city. They visit the ballpark, and I invite them onto the field so we can chat and then watch the game.
That game. The bad one. But you know, all around us, people were talking baseball. What to throw (Hideki) Matsui. Things like that.