Jon Lester pitched an emotional game in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Cardinals, and while it may have just seemed like business as usual for the fiery Lester, today’s game held a deeper meaning.
News broke after the late come-back win that Lester’s uncle passed away yesterday, so the Cubs ace decided to pay tribute to the late Notre Dame grad by writing PLACT, short for the infamous Fighting Irish motto, ‘Play Like A Champion Today’.
Many have asked about what's on Lester's cap and why it was there, so here's @TonyAndracki23 with the answer: pic.twitter.com/Nc0XNsMHaL
— Luis M. (@lcm1986) July 22, 2017
Lester was more or less, wearing his literal heart on his sleeve during today’s game that saw him carry a no-hitter into the 5th inning. And while Lester gave up two runs in the 8th inning, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo made sure to salvage a win for the club.
Afterwards, Lester shared his thoughts on the emotional outing, you can see the rest of the press conference here.
“My family — I lost my uncle yesterday,” Lester said. “For the Notre Dame fans, he went to Notre Dame, so it’s Play Like a Champion Today. Just to let him know that I was thinking of him.”
Lester had kept the tragic family loss to himself, as even Kris Bryant and is teammates were taken back by the news. Regardless, Lester tossed a gem, eight innings of two run baseball including 10 strike outs while not issuing a single walk. The Cubs 33-year-old ace made his late Uncle proud today, playing like the Champion he is.
