In his next start back at home against Boston; Lee blew up, and not in the good way.
He surrendered seven runs in only four innings and was booed off the mound by the home crowd. To show his appreciation, he responded by tipping his cap in a smug sort of way.
It wasn't a flying glove or an angry argument with a player, it was far worse. It was disrespectful.
Lee got sent to Triple-A Buffalo that same night and while he would return to the team and pitch in a few games down the stretch, he didn't make the postseason roster and was an afterthought.
During the offseason, Lee was the subject of many trade rumors.
Not any more.
What exactly did Lee do this past offseason that turned his career around?
Nothing special would be the appropriate response.
Lee simply got back to basics.
Indians pitching coach, Carl Willis, who is expected to have two Cy Young award pitchers in a row under his belt come Thursday afternoon, invited Lee to his home in North Carolina one day.
They didn't re-invent the wheel or anything like that, Willis basically showed Lee what no one else did. He showed Lee he still believed him.
The plan from there was to implement some changes that Lee wanted to make in Spring Training, but never got to because of injury. His 2007 was basically used to catch up and he never got there.
In 2008, Lee's Spring Training was less than stellar. He was in a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation with a struggling youngster who had lost his spot as well in 2007, Jeremy Sowers, and the man who replaced Lee in 2007, Aaron Laffey.
Laffey and Sowers effectively imploded, and rather than winning the job, Lee was pretty much handed it by default. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't building much confidence with the fans.
In fact, in one televised game Lee pitched against the Mets, he looked downright awful.
That's when the 2008 season started and the rest is truly history.
Lee basically changed his mindset on and off the mound. He became more focused as a pitcher and more humble as a player.
Pitching-wise he used his fastball on both sides of the plate. He was also getting his curveball and changeup more involved, most importantly though, he got aggressive.
So aggressive, that at one point the season, catcher Kelly Shoppach said that they had to purposely mix in some balls to keep the hitters honest. He simply wasn't missing the strike zone.
Off the field, Lee began to garner a lot of praise and admiration due to his early season success. To Lee's credit, he didn't really want any of it, he just wanted to win and take it pitch by pitch.
A complete 180 from denying that he wasn't trying to show up the fans when he tipped his cap, Lee showed tremendous strides in his attitude.
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