In Abilene, Texas, Lackey was the consummate athlete. He was the starting quarterback and captain of the football team, the starting center on the basketball team, and all-state at first base for the baseball team. He never had time to sit back and learn how to pitch and not just whip the ball as hard as he could toward the plate.

"I pitched about 14 innings or so in high school," Lackey says. "The football coach didn't want me to hurt my arm."

In 1999, John transferred from University of Texas-Arlington to Grayson County Community College in Texas. At Texas-Arlington, he had been an outfielder, hitting .440 with 16 home runs. At Grayson, he moved to the mound and impressed scouts. He went 10-3, 4.23 ERA, walking 54 and striking out 88 in 100 innings. He led the team to the Junior College World Series title. He was offered a scholarship to Texas Tech, and planned on going there, but the Angels drafted him in the second round.

Lackey is tall, strong, soft-spoken, and startlingly confident.

WORLD SERIES WINNER

In 2002, Lackey became the first rookie pitcher to start and win a seventh game of the World Series since Pittsburgh's Babe Adams in 1909. His Angels beat the Giants.

Maybe the coolest thing during the offseason after the Angels won the World Championship was when Sports Illustrated came out and Lackey was on the cover. He has been saving Sports Illustrated covers since he could read. He still has several covers on his bedroom wall from the glory days of the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s. Now, he was on the cover himself! He hung it on the wall of his Dad's office. Derran Lackey was John's high school baseball coach.

John is the only Major League pitcher who has won the final game in two World Series for two different teams—the Angels and the Red Sox.   

In an April 2, 2006 bench-clearing fracas, Lackey was fined $2,500 and Oakland A's Jason Kendall was suspended four games. John said the money was donated to charity.

"I knew I was going to get something, but I didn't think I should have been suspended," Lackey said. "I didn't originally think it was right for him to come out and fight. These things happen in the heat of the battle. Guys are fired up."

During the sixth inning of the A's 10-3 win over the Angels, Lackey threw a breaking ball that did not hit Kendall. But while receiving the throw back from catcher Jeff Mathis, Lackey told Kendall to move off the plate and Kendall charged the mound. Both players were ejected, while manager Mike Scioscia was later ejected in the ninth inning after Robb Quinlan was hit on the left elbow by Chad Gaudin.

Scioscia said he spoke with baseball's vice president of discipline, Bob Watson, to explain the Angels' version of what happened.

"He didn't do anything to be suspended, we're glad the league saw it that way," Scioscia said. "I wanted to be sure that Bob grasped the situation and give him some feedback."

Lackey is mentally tough. He almost defines the phrase. Remarkably durable, Lackey never has missed a start (as of June 2007) because of injury—partly because of sound mechanics, but also owing to his tough-minded attitude.

At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, he's an athlete who pitches for a living, having excelled in football and basketball at Abilene High School in Texas. Like a quarterback driving for a first down, Lackey keeps pushing through physical issues.

In 2008 spring training, Angels mnager Mike Scioscia procured John's transcript from the pitcher's final semester at Grayson Community College in Denison, Texas, and posted it on a clubhouse wall.

The Angels' ace, not surprisingly, aced varsity baseball, and got another A in a class called Country Pop and Rock.

"We'd go in, listen to 10 songs, say whether we liked them or not, and why . . . it was beautiful," Lackey said. "Pretty much the whole baseball team was in there."

There was one glaring mark, though, an F in algebra.

"I didn't show up for the final," Lackey said. "It was five days before the [1999] draft."

Scioscia got Lackey's mother, a teacher, on a speaker phone and told her Lackey had failed his last math class. Lackey's mother was upset.

"Don't worry," Scioscia assured her. "We're going to rectify it." Scioscia arranged for an Arizona State graduate student "in some kind of quantum physics" to walk into the team meeting and give Lackey a college sophomore-level algebra test.

The laughter from the clubhouse was so loud it could be heard through closed doors and all the way down the hall. Scioscia told Lackey he would have to take the test Monday night, but to expand the prank, he pitted Lackey's math skills against the University of Minnesota (Robb Quinlan), the University of Oklahoma (Reggie Willits) and the state of Florida (Jeff Mathis).

"Four people are taking it," Scioscia said. "The test is 25 questions, and they give you a half an hour. We're giving them an hour, and they have to return it Tuesday."

Lackey seemed genuinely perplexed when asked what kind of message it might send to kids that he blew off his algebra final. Then, remembering the three-year, $17-million contract he signed two years ago, Lackey broke out in an impish grin.

"I'm doing OK without it," he said. (Mike DiGiovanna-LA Times-2/25/08)

Lackey spends his offseason watching football and going to football games. He also loves to play golf and is in a couple of fantasy football leagues.

John credits his father for having the most influence on his career.

"My dad stressed playing several sports and thought that would help me. He was a high school baseball coach when I was growing up," Lackey said.

Lackey's favorites:

Actor: Kevin Costner, Movie: "Bull Durham," TV Show: SportsCenter, Music: Country, Food: Mexican, Three people John would like to invite to dinner: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Nolan Ryan. (Rick Sorci-Baseball Digest-July 2009)

Lackey said that after he retires from the game, he will probably live on a ranch, do a lot of fishing, and hang out with his family.

He also will watch a whole lot of football, just like he does now during the offseason. Football—college, pro, even high school—is still a huge part of his life.

Inside this pitcher, there is a quarterback with a football mentality that he brings to the mound every time out there, intensity in his eyes, performing at his best in the biggest of games, with a fire that makes him never want to leave.

Off the mound, John is easy-going and California-casual, laid-back and relaxed.

Lackey is not a big fan of the computer.

"I get some emails on the phone. We have a computer at the house, but I don't have a laptop," John said. I've got my little iPad that's got movies on it. That's all. Action, comedies, stuff like that. I like a lot of comedies."

Lackey's wife was battling breast cancer throughout 2011, undergoing chemotherapy.

John lost quite a bit of weight and reshaped his body before 2013 Spring Training, and it clearly allowed him to be more free and loose and athletic on the mound in 2013.

On August 30, 2011, Lackey filed for divorce from his wife of almost three years, Krista. She had been battling cancer, having undergone a double mastectomy in March and chemotherapy through June. The divorce was finalized by February 2012.

August 19, 2014: Pat Neshek went home with a Babe Ruth autographed baseball. Neshek, an avid baseball card and memorabilia collector, grudgingly passed his No. 41 to John Lackey when the veteran right-hander was acquired from Boston in a Trade Deadline deal. He had no longtime attachment to the number, but it did hold significance as being the number he donned for his first All-Star Game. His mother was so upset with him that she hung up the phone when he informed her of the jersey trade.

Lackey had worn No. 41 in 11 of his 12 Major League seasons, the lone exception being in 2010, when Victor Martinez wore it in his last year with the Red Sox.

Lackey planned to present Neshek with a watch as a gesture of gratitude. However, when Neshek heard of those plans, he mentioned to his new teammate that he would prefer something that could go into his extensive memorabilia collection. He first considered a baseball card, then settled on a Babe Ruth ball that he had been eyeing for some time.

He received the ball in the mail a few days later, showing it off to awestruck teammates in the clubhouse.

"It's pretty awesome," Neshek said. "It's something I've always wanted. It's the best autograph I have in my collection. Man, what a gift."

Before finalizing the purchase, Neshek had a friend authenticate the baseball, which features a signature with Babe in quotation marks. That, Neshek explained, is an indication that it was signed when Ruth was still playing, likely around 1926.

Neshek told Lackey he would help cover part of the cost, an offer that Lackey declined. While Lackey was prepared to spend about $10,000 on a Breitling watch for Neshek, this gift went for more than two times that amount.

"I think he was really happy with it, and I appreciate him giving up the number with him having such a great year," Lackey said. "I wanted to do something cool for him."

Other teammates have since joked with Lackey that they, too, would gladly exchange their number with him.

For Neshek, the autograph instantly became the best in his collection, topping the Napoleon Bonaparte-signed battle plans that Neshek had previously procured. It also has helped him grow content with his new number, 37.

"You know what? I've gotten a lot of strikeouts since with No. 37, and things have been going pretty well," Neshek said. "It was a great trade." (By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com | 8/20/2014)

2009: In manager Tom Kotchman's 31-year tenure in the Minor Leagues, he has only seen two pitchers so competitive that they have refused to come out of the game. 

The first time was in 1983 when rookie Roger Clemens, playing for the Winter Haven Red Sox, told Kotchman if he left him in the game Clemens could end the contest in three pitches. And the future seven-time Cy Young award winner did just that, a testament not only to his talent, but to his competitive nature.

It was 16 years before Kotchman witnessed that same fire on the hill, this time from 20-year-old rookie John Lackey. 

The Angels' second-round pick in 1999, Lackey's first stop was with Kotchman's Boise Hawks. The veteran manager still remembers one particular game when he tried to replace Lackey only to have the tall Texan tell him otherwise. Sure enough, Kotchman trotted back to the dugout and Lackey kept dominating, as if to say, "See? I'm not done yet."

Point taken for Kotchman, who never signaled to the bullpen first when Lackey was on the mound that season, a rare display of assurance from a Minor League manager with more than 1,500 career wins.

"One important trait that [Clemens and Lackey] have in common is that they are competitors," Kotchman said. "It's probably an overused word. [On my report on] one of the players I drafted last year, it says, 'He competes like John Lackey.'" (Brittany Ghiroli - Special to MLB.com - Feb. 16, 2015)

Jon Lester first met Lackey when the two pitched for the Red Sox in 2010. They'd had their battles in the postseason before that.  "I'll be the first one to tell you nobody in that dugout liked him, just because of how competitive he is and all the emotions he has on the field," Lester said.

"When he's on the mound, he's a bully," said Jason Heyward, who has played against Lackey and was his teammate with the Cardinals in 2015.

However, Maddon said Lackey may have mellowed. Lackey scoffed at that.

"Not every five days, probably not," the righthander said. "Four out of five days, I'm pretty laid back and having a good time. When you only get 30 some times to help your team, I take it pretty dang serious and go get after it."

Lackey downplays the edginess element.  "It's not going anywhere," he said. "It's just there."

Rizzo and Bryant were happy not to have to face Lackey any more, and both relayed that to the new Cubs pitcher.

"I don't think I want a hitter to want to face me," Lackey said. "Obviously, I compete on the field and I get after it, and I know how that can be perceived sometimes. I think people find out I'm a lot different than they think I am, which is fine. In between the lines, I don't care what the other team thinks about me. I'm there to win."

And that's what the Cubs need. Lackey will be slotted behind Jake Arrieta and Lester in the rotation, and arrives possibly in better shape now than he was when he pitched for the Red Sox. .  

"You hate playing against him," Arrieta said. "You see his emotions on the mound. It just shows this guy wants to win and he cares about winning. He's not intentionally trying to show his teammates up. It's his competitive nature on display. We all have that to a certain extent. This guy has been around for 14 years. That's his game is winning."  (Muskat - MLB.com - 3/29/16)

May 6, 2016: Lackey struck out the Nationals' Jayson Werth in the fourth inning of the Cubs' 8-6 win for his 2,000th career strikeout. Lackey got Werth looking at an 81-mph cutter for the first out of the frame.

"Honestly, I didn't even know I was that close [to the milestone]," Lackey said. "I had a runner at first and was trying to get out of the inning. I guess [2,000 K's] means I'm old and I've been around a while and have done a few things." (C Muskat - MLB.com - May 6, 2016)

TRANSACTIONS

June 1999: The Angels chose Lackey in the second round, out of Grayson County Community College in Texas. 

April 4, 2006: Lackey signed a three-year, $17 million contract with the Angels. The deal included a fourth-year option that could push the value of the package to more than $27 million.

The pact called for $4.01 million in 2006, $5.5 million in 2007 and $7 million in 2008, and the deal will buy out his remaining two years of arbitration. The option, covering Lackey's first year of free agency, would be worth a minimum of $9 million and a maximum of $10.5 million and can be bought out by the Angels for $500,000.

December 15, 2009: John signed a five-year, $82.8 million contract with the Red Sox.

Note that the Red Sox have a built-in "conditional club option’’ at the minimum salary for the 2015 season into Lackey's contract to protect them in case John gets hurt.

The conditional option in 2015 would have Lackey play for the Major League minimum (currently $400,000) if an old elbow injury forced him to miss significant time because of surgery at any time during the deal.

August 2, 2014: Though he'll be doing so at the Major League minimum, Lackey is "absolutely" going to honor the remainder of his contract and pitch for the Cardinals in 2015.

The guaranteed portion of the five-year, $82.5 million deal that Lackey signed with the Red Sox in 2009 is set to expire at the end of the 2014 season. Written into the contract, though, was a club-friendly option that triggered because he missed extensive time with an elbow injury. It was included as protection for the Red Sox, who knew the right-hander had a pre-existing issue with his elbow.

As a result the Cardinals can retain Lackey for 2015 for a salary that should be just a bit over $500,000. There were reports earlier this season that Lackey would consider retiring if that club option wasn't nullified with an extension. Upon reporting to Busch Stadium, he said that wouldn't be the case.

"I'm absolutely going to [pitch]," Lackey said. "As long as I stay healthy, I'm going to."

The fact that he was dealt plays a role in that decision.

"Obviously, it was case by case," he said. "It would have been a harder decision other places, for sure, but this is definitely somewhere I wanted to be, and I'm excited about it." (Jenifer Langosch - MLB.com - 8/1/2014)

October 30, 2014: The Cards exercised their 2015 contract option on Lackey. He had agreed to an $82.5 million, five-year contract with Boston in December 2009, which contained a provision for a conditional team option at the minimum if he missed a season due to specified injury. Lackey did not pitch in 2012 after reconstructive elbow surgery. 

The Major League minimum in 2015 was $500,000 plus a cost-of-living adjustment to be determined, which is likely to be $9,000 to $10,000.

Lackey is long and lanky and has a moving four-seam FASTBALL at 91-95 mph and an 89-92 mph two-seam SINKER. He also has an 83-85 mph SLIDER, a 77-80 mph power CURVE, and a 80-85 mph CHANGEUP.

John changes speeds on his breaking ball—even changing the break on it, too.

2016 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 42.1% of the time; Sinker 16.2% of the time; Change 5.4%; Slider 24.5%; and CURVE 11.7% of the time.

He has a smooth delivery that exaggerates his six-foot-six height, giving the batter the impression that he is even taller than that. It enables Lackey to pitch effectively on a downward plane from an effortless motion.

He is improving his command, being able to run pitches up and in and then down and away. Lackey throws a lot of low-and-outside first strikes, which is very effective because good hitters will take that pitch.

Lackey is composed and determined. He has ice water in his veins. And he is humble.

His fastball dictates his success more than any other pitch. If Lackey can spot his fastball, it allows him to get ahead early in the count and sets up his breaking pitches. But when Lackey can't locate the fastball, he usually gets in trouble. Lackey, though, has shown he can work out of jams even when he's not in top form. And he pitches with injuries that would sideline most any other pitcher.

"It's just experience, getting more comfortable with my secondary pitches—changeup, cutters," Lackey said of his emergence. "I always start off with the fastball/curveball pretty much, and everything else kind of comes in as needed."

Playing in the American League West forced Lackey to constantly make adjustments with his repertoire.

"You've got to keep adding to your game—especially in our division with only four teams," he said. "For example, I started throwing the two-seamer away from righties. The more options you can put in your game, the more they have to think about. I haven't invented any new pitches, but I'll use the variety I have at any time."

In 2003, Lackey tied for the AL lead in shutouts (two). But he gave up the long ball, allowing 31 home runs in 204 innings. John's best month came in September, when his ERA was 2.65 in five starts.

On July 7, 2006, Lackey not only pitched a one-hitter, but because that one hit was a leadoff double (by Mark Kotsay), and John then retired the next 27 straight batters, in essence he had tossed a "perfect" game. Lackey ended up with a 3-0 shutout over the Oakland A's.

It was the fourth time since 1950 that a pitcher has spun the oddity and the first since Jerry Reuss did it for the Dodgers in an 11-1 win over the Reds on June 11, 1982. (Lackey's manager Mike Scioscia was behind the plate for the Dodgers that night in 1982.)

In July 2006, Lackey had a streak of 30 2/3 scoreless innings for the Angels. He was the National League Pitcher of the Month honors with a 5-1 record and a 2.08 ERA in six July starts. But then, Lackey fell to a 1-3 mark and a 6.55 ERA in six starts in August.

In 2006, Lackey ranked in the top six among American League pitchers in ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games, innings pitched, and opponents' batting average.

John does not talk with the other team's hitters.

"When I first broke into the league, Tim Salmon told me that I shouldn’t talk to hitters ’cause the more comfortable they are with you, the more comfortable they are in the box.’’

While the home portion of the Cardinal's 2015 regular-season slate wrapped, the Cardinals left town knowing they were assured of returning to Busch Stadium for at least one more game. And whether that's as a host for the National League Wild Card Game or to open a best-of-five NL Division Series against the Wild Card winner, the club may have already found its pitcher.  

John put a bow tie on a tremendous six-month showing at home. Lackey lowered his home ERA to 1.92 by allowing one run over seven innings.  It was the 15th time in 17 home starts that Lackey had gone at least seven innings deep. All 17 qualified as quality starts, meaning he pitched at least through the sixth and allowed no more than three earned runs during a game at Busch Stadium in 2015.

"You head into a season and you know that a guy is prepared," manager Mike Matheny said of the 13-year veteran. "You know that he's not scared of a situation or of taking on any role. He just wants the ball to pitch. You could see he was putting in all of his work. This has been a very obviously needed run by John Lackey."  

Lackey's road results have not been as stellar, though he's been reliable enough to throw 25 quality starts overall. 

Eight years after leading the American League with a 3.01 ERA and finishing third in the Cy Young Award voting, Lackey said he feels he has been even more consistent in 2015. "I feel like I've put together a pretty good run this year," Lackey said.  (Langosch - mlb.com - 9/27/15)

May 6, 2016: Lackey struck out the Nationals' Jayson Werth in the fourth inning of the Cubs' 8-6 win for his 2,000th career strikeout. The righthander became the fifth active pitcher with at least 2,000 strikeouts, joining CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, Felix Hernandez and Jake Peavy. (Carrie Muskat - MLB.com)