With three World Series championships to his name, Jon Lester is arguably one of MLB’s most successful baseball players. He is also a four-time all-star player and 2016 NLCS MVP. Amazingly, Lester’s exploits in baseball came after he was diagnosed with lymphoma, which threatened to truncate his career, but luckily cancer was treatable with chemotherapy, and by the end of 2006, Lester was officially in remission. He has since devoted his time and resources to cancer research.
Bio of Jon Lester (Age)
Jonathan Tyler Lester was born on January 7, 1984, in Tacoma, Washington and raised in Puyallup, Washington. His athletic side became evident very early in life. He played on the baseball team while attending Bellarmine Prep School in Tacoma, Washington. He was a three-time MVP and recipient of the Gatorade Player of the Year Award for Washington in 2000.
Lester was drafted straight out of high school in the 2002 MLB Draft. He was selected in the second round with the 57th overall pick. He started out with the Portland Sea Dogs of Minor League Baseball and quickly became the Boston Red Sox’s highest-rated player. Lester made his major league debut on June 10, 2006 in a game against the Texas Rangers.
In August 2006, a back injury saw him placed on the 15-day disabled list. Lester initially thought the wound was caused by a car accident he was involved in in early August, but further findings revealed he had inflamed lymph nodes which turned out to be cancerous.
Luckily, it was treatable with chemotherapy, and in December 2006, Lester became cancer-free. And right after his life flashed before his eyes, Lester was back in the field. After a few rehab outings with Greenville Drive and Pawtucket Red Sox, Lester was recalled to the majors in July 2007.
Later that year, Lester received the Tony Conigliaro Award in honor of his successful battle with cancer. On May 19, 2008, in a game against the Kansas City Royals, Lester recorded his name in the history books by throwing a hit. He would come to win his second World Series with the team in 2013.
After his contract with the Sox expired, Lester had a brief stint with the Oakland Athletics before joining the Chicago Cubs in 2015.
Salary and net worth
Jon Lester has the millions to show for his successful baseball career. When the Boston Red Sox selected him in the second round of the 2002 MLB Draft, he received a $1 million signing bonus. It was the highest signing bonus among any second-rounder that year.
As his performance increased, so did his earnings. In March 2009, Lester signed a five-year, $30 million contract extension, complete with a $14 million team option when it expires in 2014.
In late 2014, Jon Lester joined the Chicago Cubs on a 6-year contract worth $155 million which saw him make the 2015 Forbes list of baseball’s highest paid players with a salary of $30 million. His total income for the year was $30.4 million, with $400,000 coming from his supporting sponsors, the main one being Nike.
Lester’s earnings for the year made him the second highest-paid baseball player of the year, beaten by Clayton Kershaw who made $31.2 million. Lester’s contract gives him an average salary of $25.8 million. The deal also includes a 2021 option that will bump the total up to $170 million. Jon Lester’s net worth is estimated at $50 million.
Who is Jon Lester’s wife?
Lester was with the minor league Greenville Drive in Greenville, South Carolina while working on his cancer rehabilitation. It was around this time that he met a certain Farrah Stone Johnson who was a nursing student in South Carolina. And although his stay in Greenville was short-lived, it took him enough time to start a relationship with Farrah.
After two years of dating, the couple tied the knot on January 9, 2009. They have two sons; Hudson and Walker were born in 2010 and 2013 respectively. They also have a daughter named Cy Elizabeth who was born on November 29, 2016. Lester later clarified that his daughter’s choice of name was in no way a reference to the best throwing award in baseball.
Lester’s wife frequently shares sweet snaps of the family on social media. The family lives in Chicago in a house that Lester bought for $3.7 million shortly after signing his huge contract with the Cubs.
Statistics and other facts
As of June 2018, Lester’s MLB career stats are as follows;
Average points earned: 3.47
Strikethrough: 2107
Win-loss record: 166–94
1. Lester won the Babe Ruth Award in 2016.
2. In 2008, two years after his own cancer diagnosis, his father, John Lester, was diagnosed with lymphoma. The cancer, Lester explained, is a slow-growing cancer that would likely be with him for the rest of his life, rather than becoming his death.
3. A wine lover, Lester has his own line of wines under the Longball Cellars brand. The line is in partnership with Charity Wines.
4. As part of his contribution to cancer research, Lester and his wife created NVRQT, short for “Never Quit.”
5. Lester enjoys hunting in his spare time.
