Chicago - John Lester took pride in living on the mound until he gave his all on any given day. After 16 seasons, three World Series rings and a career spent as one of the best left-handers of his generation, Lester is dropping the ball.
On Wednesday, Lester announced his retirement via a report from ESPN, acknowledging that the physical toll of the baseball season was becoming increasingly challenging. So the big left is turning aside after a remarkable continuation and dominance of October.
"It's kind of a course on its own," Lester told ESPN.com. "It's becoming increasingly difficult for me physically. Little things that come along over the years turn into big things that hinder your performance.
"I think I'm a half-decent self-evaluator. I don't want anyone else to tell me I can't anymore. I want to be able to hand over my jersey and say, 'Thanks, enjoyed it.' That's probably the biggest deciding factor."
Lester's legacy includes being an icon forever in two of baseball's most storied cities: Boston and Chicago. The lefty was part of two World Series Championship teams with the Red Sox (2007 and '13) and famously helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought in 2016.
During his career, Lester was a five-time All-Star, won 200 games, wrote a no-hitter (May 19, 2008) and was in the top four in Cy Young Award voting in three seasons. His signature cutter led the day, but his fierce competition was his calling card.
In the Age of Specialization, Lester won at least 15 games eight times and recorded 200 or more innings in eight campaigns. As a testament to his consistency, Lester had the same ERA (3.64) for the Red Sox (nine seasons) and Cubs (six seasons).
"Being out there, being able to pick up the ball every fifth day, staying healthy," Cubs manager David Ross said of Lester in September, "It gives you the opportunity to continue working through the competition and adjust and win." Allows you to find the way. He's been a winner his whole life, so it's no secret that he was going to figure out a way to be successful."
Lester probably showed even more perseverance and determination off the field than on the mound. He was diagnosed with anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma during his rookie season in 2006, and returned to the big leagues in July of the following season, winning over Cleveland in his first game.
"I was on a rehab assignment in Pawtucket after cancer at Triple-A," Lester told ESPN.com. "My parents were there and they were going to go home that day or the next, and I told them they would have to change their flight. I said I was starting the next night in Cleveland.
"It's one of the top moments of my career. It was great to see his face. Once I was back in baseball, I tried not to take anything for granted and really appreciated being around people."
The 2007 season saw the first of two World Series wins, and then a no-hitter in '08. Lester won 110 of his 200 games with the Red Sox, which traded him to an A at the trade deadline in '14. That winter, the Lester entered the open market, just as the Cubs were emerging from an extensive rebuild.
During winter meetings in the off-season, the Cubs punched gas on their feud timeline by signing Lester a six-year, $155 million treaty. After the deal was struck, former Chicago manager Joe Maddon famously told reporters, "We won the baseball lottery."
Lester quickly helped the Cubs reestablish the culture surrounding ballclubs, gaining an edge of competition, relevance and expectation. In six seasons on the North Side, Leicester won one World Series, three National League Central titles, reached the NL Championship Series three times and helped the club make the playoffs in five years.
"We owe him a huge debt of gratitude," former Red Sox and Cubs executive Theo Epstein said after the 2020 season. "We were investing in John Lester the person in every way as much as we were investing in John Lester the Pitcher. And he came across both areas for us in typical John Lester fashion."
At the October stage, all Lester had pieced together was a 2.51 ERA in 154 innings in 26 career games.
In six World Series, Leicester was even better, turning in a 1.77 ERA with four wins. He won against the Rockies in 2004, won both starts in a '13 win over St. Louis, and worked three relief innings in Game 7 of the '16 series (after starting Games 1 and 5).
Lester started a dozen Game 1 or Wild Card Game playoffs, started a Game 7 and was co-MVP of the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers.
Raising a glass to Jon Lester in celebration of a legendary career.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) January 12, 2022
200 wins, 3 rings, a 2.51 postseason ERA and countless lives touched by your generosity.
We are so fortunate to have you in the Cubs family. Enjoy retirement! pic.twitter.com/WvxTkn8Afx
When it comes to Lester's chances for the Hall of Fame, here are some statistics to support his case:
• Since 2006–21, which includes Leicester's career, only Justin Verlander and Jack Greinke have recorded more wins or innings. This makes Lester the first of all left-handers in those categories during that period. He finished sixth overall in strikeouts during that time period.
• Lester is one of 85 pitchers to reach at least 2,000 strikes in his career. He is ranked 40th on baseball's all-time list, but 12th among left-handed pitchers.
• In the modern era (since 1900) only 27 pitchers (seven left) have logged at least 12 seasons with 31 or more starts. Lester compiled dozens of such tours in a row from 2008–19.
• Lester is one of 57 pitchers to have scored at least 200 wins and 2,000 strikeouts in a Major League career. Only 12 on that list, which includes Lester, have a win percentage of .630 or higher.
• Only 18 left-handers have reached at least 200 wins and 2,000 strikes, only Randy Johnson (.646) and Lefty Grove (.680) are better than Lester (.631) in win percentage.
Business outside Boston robbed Lester of a proper send-off with Red Sox fans, though he took out an ad in the Boston Globe to express his gratitude. In Chicago, Lester bid farewell to Cubs fans in a more fitting fashion, after three days of the 2020 season picking up the tab for fans who called some times to "put it on John's tab." Lester closed out by buying about 5,000 Miller Lights for Cubs fans.
Lester pitched at Wrigley Field twice last season—once with the Nationals and later for the Cardinals—and Ross, his former personal catcher in Boston and Chicago, quipped that the city of Chicago had to return on his May 17 return "John Lester's Day". ,
Thanks Jon for EVERYTHING! #thebest #NVRQT 🍺 https://t.co/MAnR6RFB9a
— David Ross (@D_Ross3) January 12, 2022
No one has captured the turn of Lester's career more than Ross, whose first trip to the mound as Cubs manager in 2020 was amusing to drag Lefty from the spring game. Ross was thrilled to see Leicester reach 200 wins last season - a goal the pitcher was unable to achieve due to the last pandemic-shortened season with the Cubs.
Ross said at the end of Lester's stint with Chicago, "No one has done more to me than that person in my career." "What he means to me and my family and the things he has done for me, as part of my career, I wouldn't sit in this seat without that man."
Behind the scenes, Lester took a cue from the veterans he was in early in his career and was generous with his teammates. He allowed them to use their suites on the road and picked up the tab. Lester was known for handing out bottles of champagne for career milestones, or suit-shopping to a young player once he reached the big leagues.
Leicester's teammates, coaches and managers will remember those moments, along with fiery exchanges in the dugout or on the field in the heat of competition during a decorated and impressive career. Ross was asked last season what Lester left behind at the Chicago clubhouse.
"He brought a championship mentality," said Ross, "and a preparation and hard work that he expected every day, to which he held himself responsible, and he was brought up to learn how to do it. He brought him here, and victory followed."