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There will be a good discussion about Jon Lester's Hall of Fame candidacy in five years now that he has retired from baseball.
There is no debate among his teammates.
"I told my kids, I'm not going until Jon gets in," John said. That's when we're going to Cooperstown. I can't wait to be there.
He won 200 games, authored a no-hitter, made five All-Star teams, and was an important part of three World Series titles for two historic organizations. His teammates will remember him for his intensity on the mound and personality in the locker room. He was a winner to them.
"If you're building a baseball player, as far as how they treat other people, what their goals are, how you want them to compete and act on and off the field, he's the model," Chicago Cubs manager David Ross said.
A sequence from a midsummer game in the final weeks of his career might be the best.
In mid-August, the St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Milwaukee Brewers in a playoff game. Christian Yelich hit a line drive off of Jon Lester's calf in the top of the first.
After getting the next batter out, he came to the bench and was hurting. Mike Maddux told him that the pitcher could come out of the game.
He wasn't having it.
He told Maddux that his calf was not near his heart. I'm not leaving.
He stayed in the game for three more frames. It was the 11th time that a team employing Jon Lester would make the playoffs.
"Yep, that sounds like him," said Pedroia, laughing. If you have two of them, you're good to go. That's what we always say. If it was an arm or leg, you should get out there.
He was unafraid to speak his mind in the locker room or in front of the cameras, about his own performance, or his team's, or even the commissioner of baseball, whom he called out in 2020.
While teammates looked to him for guidance, opponents were intimidated by his drive to win. He was considered to be the quintessential old-school player. He didn't dismiss the newer analytical elements in the game, but he didn't rely on them either, because he only cared about proving the computer wrong.
In his early years with the Red Sox, that attitude was developed. Josh Beckett, along with catchers Ross and Varitek, were influential.
Being a good teammate on and off the field is something that has been learned by Lester, who won his first two World Series rings in Boston.
There are people from all walks of life on the team. I saw David bring a lot of those guys together that you wouldn't think would be friends. I wanted to bring that when I arrived in Chicago.
While he was a star on the Red Sox, Lester took on the role that David Ortiz had played in Boston when he joined the Cubs. Kris Bryant was still in the minor leagues and the Cubs had yet to reach their peak for a franchise in need of a winning mentality more than a century since its last title. It was on him to bring everyone together.
A road trip to Oakland included a private plane to take a group to play golf. The private bus was paid for by Lester and was used for a Kenny Chesney concert.
Ross said it was the greatest trip he had ever been on. He wanted everyone to have a good time and not worry about private planes.
There were postgame parties at the house of the Cubs' pitcher. Everyone was invited.
"I knew we had a young team," he said. We wanted to get to know other people. The best way to do that is off the field. We like hosting and it helps. I would rather walk up to my room and sleep than worry about getting an ride.
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While he made life fun for his teammates, the ultra-competitive Lester maintained an "I'm here to work" attitude at the ballpark. He and Ross were often yelling at each other.
Ross said that his favorite one was against Oakland. He had struck out 12 in seven. He walked the leadoff man on four pitches.
I walked out to the mound and yelled at him. If you're done, I'll let Farrell know. He's yelling, 'We're not done'. He struck out 15 on the day after punching out the next three.
In 2015, Ross and Lester moved to Chicago. Ross remembers the aftermath of the fight after Freddie Freeman got an hit.
"We get in the dugout and I'm yelling at him, 'You call your own game!' You don't need me! He said, "Don't quit on me; I was trying to bounce it." We were angry with each other.
It was funny. I was expecting a lot from him. He didn't punch me in the face.
Pedroia only stepped into the batter's box against Lester during spring training batting practice in 2005, but that competitive attitude is why he likes it.
Pedroia knew he could get under Jon's skin. If he threw a cutter, I would just take it or let it hit me, I didn't care. I hit a missile back off the screen when he threw me a two-seamer.
I talked trash to him after that. I made it clear that I'm never going to face him again. If we played him in a regular-season game, I would have taken a day off and practiced Mai Tai.
Pedroia wanted to keep playing with him and never wanted to face him. Pedroia thought they would get back together after Lester became a free agent.
Pedroia said that he always thought that they would re-sign him. He called me before he joined the Cubs. He was crying. It was the most difficult moment in my big league career. It was late. He called me while I was in bed. I was like that it doesn't change how I feel about you. It was worse than any loss I had on the field. He was a family member.
While his former teammates look back at his career with respect, his Hall of Fame chances will depend on how much voters value his October success, achievements and ability to pitch deep into games for more than a decade.
I took the ball every five days, that's the thing I'm proudest of. That was the most important thing for me. When I was younger, I heard 'be relied upon'. They knew they could count on me to take the ball. The man is Jon Lester.
He has a 2.51 postseason ERA and has at least 10 starts. Including only lefties, it's fourth. His postseason win probability is fifth behind playoff icons.
In the nine seasons since 2008, only one season in which the starter did not pitch more than 813 in a season was when the starter did not pitch more than 200 in a season. Father Time finally caught up with him after he averaged 170 in his final five years.
I took the ball every five days, that's what I'm proudest of. That was the most important thing for me. When I was younger, I heard 'be relied upon'. They knew they could count on me to take the ball.
The 30th left-handed pitcher in MLB history to reach the mark was Jon Lester, who recorded his 200th win last September. The only members of the 200 win club who were active last season were the three who were active in the previous season.
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The Cubs president of baseball operations said that people's perspective on number of wins is changing. He got to 200. The consistency of his career and the fact that he was able to be a sensational playoff pitcher is the epitome of any starting pitcher. He's one of the best pitchers of this generation if you change the lens and away from 300 wins being the standard to overall value, he's one of the best.
It's his success in the playoffs that will make a difference with voters, according to those around him.
"It's not raising your game," Ross said of the key to Lester's October dominance. It's the ability to focus in a big game. The bigger the game, the harder it becomes. Is it possible to execute the pitch you want?
He was prepared for those moments because he was so routine-oriented. He was able to perform because he took the energy from the playoffs. He was the best I've ever been around in the playoffs.
Now that his playing days are over, it's not clear if Cooperstown is in his future. Baseball is losing a unique personality who earned himself three rings with a stellar postseason career, according to those who spent the past 16 years watching him work.
"Just a pro's pro," he said. He worked his butt off. Friggin' took the ball every day. The locker room was not a big talker. Led by example. The best playoff pitcher ever.
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