Major League Accomplishment

Ex-PaliHi Baseball Player Jon Leicester Pitched His Way to Chicago Cubs in June

From the time they first swing a bat or put on a glove, every aspiring baseball player hopes to one day make the major leagues. That dream became a reality this season for 25-year-old Palisadian Jon Leicester, who made his major league pitching debut with the Chicago Cubs in the fifth inning of their June 9 game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. “It’s hard to describe the feeling I had when I first walked out on the mound,” said Leicester, a 6-3, 230-pound right-hander. “It was nerve-racking but it was a good nervous. Once I got in there, the game went by pretty quick. I told myself to just be as aggressive as possible and I went back to what I know’throwing strikes.” Wearing jersey No. 51, Leicester (it’s actually pronounced “Lester”) struck out Scott Rolen, then gave up a solo home run to Jim Edmonds. But he rebounded to retire the next two batters–striking out Reggie Sanders and inducing So Taguchi to pop out to second base. In all, he threw 15 of his 22 pitches for strikes and when he reached the dugout, several teammates complimented him for his gutsy performance. “I’d been doing well in the minors for three or four years but I can’t say there was any one moment I thought I’d make it [to the majors],” Leicester said. “As close as it seems, it’s never that close. You have to work hard wherever you are and maybe the call will come and maybe it won’t. You have to be in the right place at the right time.” Three days before he threw his first pitch at Wrigley, Leicester was in a locker room at Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, preparing for that evening’s game as a member of the Iowa Cubs–the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate. “The manager called me into his office, gave me the news, congratulated me and told me I was booked on a flight to Chicago the next morning,” Leceister said. “That’s how quickly things can change.” It didn’t take long for Leicester to earn his first major league victory. Pitching in front of friends and family at Anaheim Stadium June 13, he threw three scoreless innings for a 6-5 win. Among the familiar faces in the crowd was Ben Rothbard, a teammate of Leicester at Palisades High. In seven appearances before the All-Star break, Leicester compiled a 2-0 record with a 1.46 earned run average and nine strikeouts in 12 and one-third innings for the Cubs, one of the most storied franchises in America. “In the minor leagues, it’s 90 percent baseball and 10 percent everything else,” Leicester said. “Obviously, that’s not the case in the majors. Especially when you’re with a storied franchise like the Cubs. It’s a great town and the fans sell out every game. All of a sudden you have people calling for tickets, media wanting to talk to you and everything else. There are a lot more distractions to deal with.” As a child, Leicester lived in Brentwood and attended Paul Revere Middle School, then moved to Pacific Palisades in ninth grade. He chose PaliHi over University and played his prep career under head coach Russ Howard, earning the Post Cup Award as the school’s outstanding senior athlete in 1997. “Jon was only my second four-year player and he batted clean-up on a team that hit 60 homers that season,” recalls Howard, now PaliHi’s dean of students. “He played shortstop, first base, he pitched and he was our best hitter. We won our conference and beat Birmingham in the first round of the City playoffs that year. He’s worked so hard since the Cubs drafted him [in 2000] and it’s great to see him where he is now.” Until two years ago, Leicester was a regular at Palisades’ annual alumni game. In 2002, he went three for three with two towering home runs and a double in a performance that Dolphins’ longtime scorekeeper John Mitchell called “the best I’ve ever seen in all the alumni games.” The very next day, Leicester was off to spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida, with one of the Cubs’ Class A teams. This past January, Leicester returned to his alma mater to offer advice and instruction to Pali’s varsity squad. “I learned a lot playing at Palisades,” Leicester said. “Coach Howard really stressed the fundamentals in practice and it’s fundamentals that build the foundation for all those plays you see on Sportscenter. It was cool to come back and work with the pitchers. I had fun and it always feels good to give back to the game.” Although he was primarily an infielder at PaliHi, it was his pitching ability that got Leicester a scholarship to the University of Memphis, where he developed into a starting pitcher with a fast ball clocked over 90 miles per hour. He was drafted in the 11th round by the Cubs his junior year and played for seven months with the Eugene Emeralds in Oregon. Then, he enjoyed a standout 2001 season with the Class A Lansing Lugnuts. The following year he played with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the Cubs’ Double-A club. “Besides the money, the biggest difference is that there is less margin for error in the majors,” Leicester said. “In the minors, sometimes 50 or 60 percent is good enough. But in the big leagues, you can’t make any mistakes. The guys up there are just too good.” Leicester’s first stint in the majors was short-lived. He was optioned back to Iowa along with fellow pitcher Michael Wuertz on July 11, the day Chicago activated Kerry Wood and Mike Remlinger from the disabled list. However, Leicester knows he is on the Cubs’ radar and could be back on the active roster before season’s end. “A lot of things are beyond my control,” he said. “All I can do is pitch the best I can for whatever team I play for. If I do that, there’s a good chance opportunities will come my way. That’s the attitude I’ll always have.”