ST. LOUIS – The Cubs signed Jon Lester for October nights like this, to stare down their biggest rival and ultimately deliver the franchise’s first World Series title in more than 100 years.
Lester understood the win-or-else terms, how $155 million would become part of his baseball card forever, and vowed to be the same guy no matter what.
While Lester kept his head down, almost everything else seemed to change around this team in Year 1 of that megadeal, leading to the first playoff clash ever between the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
Lester views himself as a blue-collar guy, nothing that flashy to his game, just a punch-in, punch-out mentality to produce 30-plus starts and at least 200 innings a year.