For Joba Chamberlain and Jon Lester, the rise to stardom in Major League Baseball did not come easy.

On the mound, Chamberlain's 6-2, 230 pound frame, 100-mph fastball, and equally devastating slider make him a force to be reckoned with against opposing hitters.

But what's even more valuable than Chamberlain's intimidating stature and impressive repertoire of pitches are his intense passion for the game and fierce competitive nature - qualities that he inherited from his father, Harlan.

When Harlan Chamberlain was nine months old, he was stricken with polio and was forced to enter a children's hospital in Lincoln, Neb. He spent over six years at the hospital where he became paralyzed on his left side and lost all hearing in his left ear.

Confined to a wheelchair and later a motorized scooter, the elder Chamberlain refused to let these handicaps prevent him from pursuing a career and living the rest of his life.

"Seeing what he went through and being the person that he is; never asking 'why' or complaining... he's taught me to never give up," said Chamberlain. "You've got to give everything you've got everyday - in between the lines and outside the lines."

Growing up, Joba served as his father's extra set of arms and legs; often doing the laundry, cooking meals, and tending to his various medical ailments.

It wasn't a big deal, according to Joba, because his father had always been there for him whenever he was sick, so he was simply returning the favor.

Despite his handicaps, Harlan made a promise to himself that he would do something that every father should do with their son; introduce Joba to the game of baseball.

As it turns out, it was one of the smartest decisions that Harlan Chamberlain ever made.

When the two played catch in the backyard, Harlan caught the ball with his right hand, tucked it under his chin as he shook off his glove, and threw it back to Joba with the same arm. If Joba threw the ball past his dad, he was the one who had to chase after it, which quickly taught him to be an accurate thrower

After graduating from Lincoln High School in 2003, Joba chose to work a maintenance job in order to help his father pay the bills instead of enrolling in college right away.

"It was something I had to do to take care of my family," said Chamberlain.

After Harlan convinced Joba to go away to college the next year, having first to reassure his son that he would be fine while in the care of his sister, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska.

Chamberlain had a breakout season as a sophomore at Nebraska, garnering Pitcher of the Year and Third-Team All-American honors, which caught the attention of Yankees' scouts who drafted him 41 overall in the 2006 amateur draft.

"Growing up, you know about them because they're the Yankees," said Chamberlain. I was fortunate enough to get chosen in the first round and get the opportunity to put on the pinstripes."

When the Yankees traveled to Kansas City, Mo. to take on the Royals, Harlan was there - scooter and all - pumping his fist after every one of his son's strikeouts and high-fiving fans all around him.

"To give him that joy of coming to the ballpark and watching his son play - it's the greatest gift a son can give to his father."

From the moment Chamberlain was thrust into the New York spotlight, he found himself having to overcome even more obstacles - this time in the form of pitch counts and inning limits which the Yankees implemented in order to preserve his arm strength while increasing his longevity.

The infamous "Joba Rules" followed Chamberlain throughout his first two seasons in the big leagues as he was restricted from throwing in back-to-back games in 2007 and was put on a conservative pitch count in his first few starts in 2008.

While many young athletes would have trouble accepting limitations such as these, Chamberlain embraced them and vowed to do whatever was best for the team.

"As a competitor, you don't see the purpose at first," said Chamberlain. "You've got to be patient if you want to pitch for a long time and as you get older and more mature, you understand that."

As Chamberlain continued to dominate hitters as the bridge to closer Mariano Rivera, Yankee management made the decision to begin grooming him into a starting pitcher.

In his first playoff appearance against the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 American League Division Series, Chamberlain was the victim of some bad karma when he was swarmed and bitten by gnats that had just hatched from Lake Erie and descended upon Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, wreaking havoc on the players.

The swarming bugs caused Chamberlain to throw a pivotal wild pitch which erased the Yankee lead. New York went on to lose the game and the series with many people pointing to that bizarre incident as the turning point.

It would have been easy for Chamberlain to make excuses for failing to preserve the lead but instead, he handled the situation like a professional and placed the blame squarely on his own shoulders.

"Bugs are bugs," he said after the game. "No excuses. I let my guys down."

Chamberlain found himself having to overcome yet another bump in the road last October when he was arrested in Nebraska for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Since his arrest, Chamberlain has been teaching others about the dangers of drinking and driving .

"It's part of growing up," said Chamberlain. "We all make mistakes but it's important to not make that mistake again. It's behind me so let's get the season going".

Lester beats opponents, cancer

As Jon Lester boarded a plane bound for Cleveland, Ohio on July 23, 2007, his heart began to race.

Thoughts filled his mind about how far he had come in the past year and also what could have been.