Haha: Jon Lester Disputes Willson Contreras’s Famous and Hilarious Pick-Off Story

As usual, this year’s Cubs Convention was an absolutely wonderful time, filled with plenty of hope, revealing quotes, great baseball debates, and probably one-too-many adult beverages.

But the highlight of the weekend – and this is an indisputable FACT – was when Willson Contreras dropped a couple of perfectly executed “F-bombs” on an unwitting crowd.

You remember it, right? Warning … there’s profanity:

Basically, Contreras turned what was already one of the greatest moments of the 2017 season – when Jon Lester not only picked someone off … but picked off the St. Louis Cardinals’ best player just as the announcer says there’s no way he’s throwing over there – into an *even better moment* by sharing that he was whispering profanities into Jon Lester’s ear to get it done. Something about one of the youngest rookies swearing at a most serious (and almost scary) veteran is hilarious.

But wait! There’s more to this story!

At Spring Training today, NBC Sports Chicago wanted to get Jon Lester’s reaction to the story … and, well, he remembers it a little differently:

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Mystery and intrigue!

First of all … Contreras never even said it?! I’m literally slapping my knee while I crack up. When Willy told that story at CubsCon, I remember thinking something along the lines of, Well, sure, he swore in front of a bunch of kids, but he was just retelling a story exactly how it happened and it was really funny, so it probably just slipped out. No harm, no foul.

But what if it was a flight of fancy! Or what if Contreras thinks he said it, but didn’t!? Or what if Contreras said it, thought it had this incredible impact, and Lester never even heard it. I’m dying of laughter.

And then the next best part is Lester laughing off the idea that Contreras would be scared to say that to him: “I doubt he’s afraid to say anything to anybody. Willy’s probably not scared to say anything to anybody.” Heh. Clearly.

Oh Willson Contreras, keep doing you, dude.

written by

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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