In 1999, John transferred from University of Texas-Arlington to Grayson County (Texas) Community College. 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.

Maybe the coolest thing during the off-season 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.

Lackey was fined $2,500 and Oakland A's Jason Kendall was suspended four games for their involvement in an April 2, 2006 bench-clearing fracas. 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.

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.

Early 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 off-season. 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 very easy-going and California-casual, laid-back and relaxed.


TRANSACTION REPORT

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

April 4, 2006: Lackey signed a 3-year, $17.01 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 5-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.

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 earned-run average, 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.’’

In 2007, John allowed lefthanded batters a .280 average with 9 home runs in 421 at-bats, and held righthanded hitters to a .229 average with 9 home runs in 442 at-bats.

In 2008, Lackey held lefthanded hitters to a .221 average with 12 home runs in 317 at-bats. Righthanded batters hit .301 with 14 homers in 302 at-bats.

In 2009, John allowed lefty batters a .276 average with 11 homers in 384 at-bats, while holding righthanded hitters to a .247 mark with 6 homers in 288 at-bats.