John Lackey

He played one season of baseball at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), playing first base and sometimes moonlighting as a relief pitcher. The first summer after attending UTA, Lackey first learned to pitch in the Kansas Jayhawk Summer League. In 1999, he played on the Junior College World Series champion Grayson County College team in Denison, Texas, which went 50–13. In 100 innings pitched (IP), he posted a 10–3 record with a 4.23 earned run average (ERA) and 88 strikeouts. At the plate, he batted .428 with 15 home runs (HR) and 81 runs batted in (RBI). In the World Series, he tallied eight hits, two HR, and seven RBI.

In 2000, Lackey split his time between the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, High-A Lake Elsinore Storm, and Double-A Erie SeaWolves. Because of his quick ascent up the minor league ladder, he was named the Angels' Minor League Pitcher of the Year, posting a combined 15–9 record with a 3.15 ERA. He began 2001 with Double-A Arkansas before being promoted in July of that year to the Triple-A Salt Lake Stingers, where he struggled a bit, posting a 3–4 record and a 6.71 ERA. He recovered in the 2002 season, being named Best Pitching Prospect of the Pacific Coast League and accumulating an 8–2 record with a 2.57 ERA.

The Angels called Lackey up to the major leagues on June 24, 2002, dropping his first major league start against the Texas Rangers. He was optioned back to Salt Lake, only to be recalled on June 28 to replace pitcher Al Levine. Two days later, he replaced Scott Schoeneweis in the Angels' rotation and gained his first victory against the cross-town rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Lackey was also the winning pitcher for the American League (AL) Wild Card-clinching victory against Texas on September 26.

However, in Game 7 of the World Series on October 27, 2002, Lackey allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out four in five innings, allowing the Angels to hold an early 4–1 lead to hand over to their bullpen trio of Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodríguez, and Troy Percival to seal their World Series title. Lackey became only the second rookie in World Series history to start and win Game 7, the other being Babe Adams of the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates. It was the first of two Series title-clinching games in which he received credit as the winning pitcher.

Mike Scioscia announced that Lackey would start on Opening Day 2003, replacing injured ace Jarrod Washburn. Lackey struggled his sophomore year, compiling a 10–16 record with a 4.63 ERA while leading the team in hits and earned runs allowed, and wild pitches. He finished 2004 with a record of 14–13 and a 4.67 ERA, helping the Angels win their first division title since 1986. The 2005 campaign saw Lackey mature further, working into the sixth inning in 30 of his 36 starts, earning a 14–5 record with a 3.44 ERA. He ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (with 8.6 K/9 IP) and third in strikeouts (199). However, he finished with the third most wild pitches in the league.

He participated in the MLB 2006 All-Star Series in Japan. After the Angels placed 2005 Cy Young winner Bartolo Colón on the disabled list in 2006, Lackey emerged as the team's ace, and skipper Mike Scioscia made him the number one starter after the All-Star break. On July 7, 2006, Lackey retired 27 consecutive batters after Mark Kotsay of the Oakland Athletics led off the first inning with double. He threw a career high 30⁄3 scoreless innings from July 2 through July 19, 2006, when he gave up a fifth-inning home run to Ben Broussard of the Cleveland Indians, leaving his scoreless streak 5⁄3 innings short of the club record, set by Jim McGlothlin in 1967. He was later named American League Pitcher of the Month for July 2006.

On June 13, 2007, Lackey became the first pitcher to win 10 games for the 2007 season. On July 1, Lackey was named as one of three Angels to represent the club and the American League at the 2007 All-Star Game. Lackey finished the 2007 season with an American League leading 3.01 ERA. He finished in third place for that season's Cy Young Award voting.

On July 10, 2008, Lackey allowed six runs on 15 hits in 5⁄3 innings. The 15 hits tied an all-time Angels' franchise record for hits allowed by a starter in a single game.

On July 18, 2008, Lackey recorded his 1000th career strikeout, against Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox. Lackey was the sixth Angels pitcher to accomplish that feat. On July 29, 2008, Lackey pitched against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning. He came within two outs of a no-hitter before Dustin Pedroia singled to left to spoil it. The next batter, Youkilis, hit a two-run homer to break up the shutout. Lackey still finished the game and the Angels won 6–2.

On August 30, 2009, Lackey earned his 100th career win against the Oakland Athletics, giving up one run (on an error by shortstop Erick Aybar) through eight innings.

On December 16, 2009, Lackey officially signed a five-year contract worth $82.5 million with the Boston Red Sox. His contract had a clause where if he missed a full season due to injury, the Red Sox would have a team option at the end of the contract worth the league minimum. On April 7, 2010 Lackey made his debut for Boston at Fenway Park against the Yankees, pitching six innings of three-hit, shutout ball.

In 2009, the satirical publication The Onion published an article about Lackey, titled "Superstitious John Lackey Has To Build, Destroy A Luxury Hotel Before Every Start." The article was intended to satirize superstitious professional athletes.

At the end of the 2009 season Lackey became a free agent, widely regarded as the best free agent starting pitcher on the 2010 market. Baseball Prospectus declared, "Lackey stands alone as the best of the best, a relatively young righty who carries significantly less risk than the other high-upside hurlers", additionally noting he faced a tough division and tougher league and his statistics would likely be even better if he were a National League pitcher. As one of the top free agent starters on the market, he was predicted to command a deal worth around $70 to $80 million, similar to the deal A. J. Burnett received from the Yankees. Lackey drew interest from many teams, including the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He formally declined the Angels' offer of salary arbitration on December 8.

On August 30, 2011, Lackey filed for divorce from Krista, his wife of almost three years, who had been battling cancer since March and underwent chemotherapy through June. The divorce was finalized by February 2012.

He was featured in a 2011 Kevin Fowler music video alongside fellow Red Sox starting pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, and Clay Buchholz.

Many credited Lackey's turnaround as a major reason for the Red Sox' success in 2013, especially at mid-season when Clay Buchholz went on the disabled list and Jon Lester was going through a rough stretch. Lackey finished 2013 with a 10-13 record and a 3.52 ERA. He was plagued by a lack of run support throughout the season, but threw two complete games, the first time in a season that he had multiple complete games since 2008.

On July 31, 2014, the Red Sox traded Lackey with minor league pitcher Corey Littrell to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Allen Craig and pitcher Joe Kelly. In his Cardinals debut, Lackey pitched seven innings but was behind 2–0 when he exited the game. The Cardinals rallied for three runs the next inning, and ended up winning the game 3–2 while crediting him the win, the 150th of his career. Catcher A. J. Pierzynski, acquired from the Red Sox the same month, caught Lackey for the 19th time in 22 starts in 2014. Wearing uniform number 41 during his tenure with Anaheim and Boston, Lackey acquired the number from new teammate Pat Neshek in exchange for an autographed Babe Ruth baseball.

In 10 regular season starts for the Cardinals, Lackey allowed two or fewer runs in seven of them. He totaled a 3–3 W–L with a 4.30 ERA in 60 ⁄3 IP with St. Louis, and his totals for the year including those with Boston were 14-10 W–L with a 3.82 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 198 innings. He made the postseason for the seventh time in his career, starting once each against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series (NLDS) and the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Giants defeated the Cardinals in five games, ending their season. Instead of retiring and foregoing being paid the league minimum, Lackey had stated in the previous August that he would pitch in 2015 if the Cardinals picked up the option that actuated because he missed the 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery. On October 30, the Cardinals announced they had picked up the Tommy John option. With a guaranteed base salary of $507,000, the club added performance bonuses before the start of the season.

In 7 ⁄3 IP against the Chicago Cubs on May 7, 2015, Lackey struck out 10. He also drove in his third career run with a double, his third career extra base hit in a 5–1 win. On July 12, despite the Cardinals losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates 6–5 in 14 innings, he achieved his sixth consecutive quality start, and 12th in 15 appearances. He lost to the Cincinnati Reds on July 29, but gave up just one run with eight strikeouts while allowing one walk and two hits. It was the fewest hits he allowed through that point in the season. He also allowed three runs or fewer in all but of one of his prior 17 starts.

On December 8, 2015, Lackey signed a two-year, $32 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Lackey resides in the Austin area in the off-season. He and his wife, Kristina Carter, had their first child, a daughter, in November 2015. John is stepfather to Carter and Mavi, Kristina's children from her first marriage.

On April 18, 2016, in a game against the Cardinals, his former club, Lackey struck out 11 hitters in seven innings, earning his third win of the season. It was also his first regular season win against St. Louis, making him only the 16th player to notch a win against all 30 major league teams. He joined Al Leiter, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Barry Zito, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, Javier Vázquez, Vicente Padilla, Derek Lowe, Dan Haren, A. J. Burnett, Kyle Lohse, and Tim Hudson as the only players to achieve this milestone. He reached double-digit win totals for the 13th consecutive season on September 21, 2016, in a 9−2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. In 29 starts of 2016, Lackey finished 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA. With the Cubs finishing the season 103-58, the team clinched the NL Central Division. Lackey won the World Series for the third time of his career, and with a third different team after the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series, ending a 108-year long drought for a championship.

On August 16, 2017, against the Cincinnati Reds, Lackey recorded his first career stolen base, but was then picked off shortly thereafter.

On September 15, 2017, Lackey was ejected and fined for arguing a strike call by umpire Jordan Baker. He became a free agent after the Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

During the 2018 season, Lackey was offered a minor league contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and promptly turned it down. At a Chicago Cubs home game on September 27, 2018, Lackey was in attendance, and toasted to the camera when it panned to him. After the season concluded, Lackey officially retired.