Preparing for Lester’s return
Ross jokes Miller Lites ought to be free-flowing at Wrigley
Cubs manager David Ross had an idea for Jon Lester’s return to Wrigley Field on Monday night.
Free beer for everyone.
“Are they passing out Miller Lites in the stands?” Ross asked reporters Saturday on a teleconference from Detroit before the Cubs-Tigers game. “We should get everybody free Miller Lites, right?”
Lester, now with the Washington Nationals, picked up the tab for thousands of Chicagoans last fall as a thank you for their support over his six years on the North Side. Four bars participated in the event over Halloween weekend after Lester tweeted “I want to buy y’all my favorite beer” and told them to put it on his tab.
The bill came to $31,082.64, and Lester added a 34% tip (his uniform number) of $16,012.27 for a total of $47,094.90. The Cubs did not re-sign him, and Lester wound up with a one-year, $5 million deal with the Nationals, playing under manager Dave Martinez, his former coach with the Cubs.
Lester said Saturday during a teleconference from Phoenix that he was shocked so many Cubs fans took him up on the offer.
“I realized that Chicago likes beer, so that’s good,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was going to be fun. I knew we were going to have a good time with it. I wish I had been there to be part of it…. I did not expect 40,000-something, but it was fun.”
Lester, 37, is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season Monday against his former team, returning to Wrigley for the first time. Left fielder Kyle Schwarber, who was non-tendered by the Cubs last fall, also makes his return.
Lester said it was “natural” to feel a little slighted by the Cubs’ reluctance to bring him back. He obviously was not seeking a huge contract.
“I had to get over some stuff leaving Boston (too),” he said. “The fans and the people on the outside don’t understand a lot of times what we do, what we invest in the places we’re at.
“Chicago was my home for six years. We have a house there. My kids have grown up there. You invest in a city — your heart, you mind, your soul. You invest in the place you’re working, and when you’re no longer there and you have to make decision on where you want to go, yeah, there are emotions involved.
“The hard part about this game is the business side. You have to separate your heart and the business. Sometimes it’s easy — your heart makes decisions for you.
“It’s only natural as a human being (that) you go through a phase where you question certain things.But once you separate that and realize it’s a business and they have to make a decision and I have to make a decision and we go our separate ways, it is what it is.”
Ross and Lester remain close friends, and if not for Lester signing with the Cubs after the 2014 season, Ross probably would not have been signed to a two-year deal that December. And if Ross had never played for the Cubs, there’s little chance they would have hired him as manager after the 2019 season, when he beat out Joe Girardi and other others for the vacancy.
“The guy is super special to me, and I hope the fans give him the welcome back he deserves,” Ross said of Lester. “He’s a special human being. He means a lot to me (and) means a lot to this organization, for the guys in this clubhouse.
“I think fans recognize that. Cubs Nation that I know will be super appreciative and give him the love he needs. I don’t care if it’s 20,000 or 20% (capacity) . ... But I sure wish the place was packed for his sake and (getting a chance) to feel the love I think a lot of people have for him.”
The Cubs are expected to unveil highlight videos for Lester and Schwarber, as they’ve done for many returning players, including Jake Arrieta when he came back with the Phillies in 2018. Arrieta did not pitch against the Cubs but received a few standing ovations.
Lester didn’t pitch in Fenway Park when he returned to Boston with the Cubs and regretted that in hindsight. Getting some closure this time will be special.
“It’ll be nice to have the fans,” Lester said. “That’s what makes Wrigley so special, just how intimate it is and having the fans, even though we’re not at full capacity.”
Lester is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts with his new team.
The left-hander’s season began with a parathyroidectomy during spring training to alleviate hyperparathyroidism. Lester later was placed on the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19.
He allowed one run over six innings in his last start Wednesday against the Phillies.
Lester hopes to get bragging rights over his old pals Monday, noting that his close friend John Lackey beat him in a matchup at Wrigley on July 6, 2015, when Lackey was with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lackey wouldn’t let Lester forget about it afterward.
“He comes to my house and drinks all my beer and rubs it in that he won the game,” Lester said.
Lester said he’ll be staying in his Lakeview home this week. The fridge will probably be well-stocked.