"I really didn’t get to appreciate where I’m at in my career until this spring training, just because of where I’m at in my career with free agency. You sit down with your agent and they give you a book and they compare you to any pitcher that’s ever played this game," Lester said in the
Red Sox dugout at
Fenway Park on Monday. "You start to see your numbers next to Cy Young and
Babe Ruth and the list goes on, and then you get to more current pitchers, and you get to guys that are here with you and guys that get all the pub.
"They’re the elite of the elite and you start putting your numbers next to theirs and you’re going '[Shoot], I’m pretty good.' I look over at
Felix Hernandez and I’m like, ‘Man, how do you do this [stuff]?’ It’s unbelievable. Or
Adam Wainwright or Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee. And then all of sudden you put my name and it’s like, all right, you’re a little bit better in some categories, but I’m right there with you. That’s where I've got to kind of go, 'I
am pretty good.'
"Sometimes I get so focused on what I’m doing. Sometimes you need someone to go, 'Hold on, time out. Come here, let me show you this. This is where you’re at. Take a look at it, appreciate it, now move on.' And that’s what I did. It was cool. I know [agent Seth Levinson] does it for everybody, but I thanked him for showing it to me and I think that put me in a different place. Anytime you get compared to
Babe Ruth and Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Hall of Famers, you’re like, maybe I’m doing something right."