The road is long, the song reminds us, with many a winding turn.
Chris Sale understood that when he underwent Tommy John surgery almost a year ago to the day. What he couldn't have known at the time were the detours he might encounter along the way.
With a projected recovery time of anywhere from 12-15 months prescribed, Sale had reasonable expectations that he would already be throwing off a mound this month, taking his final tentative steps toward rejoining the Red Sox in the first half of the season.
But Sale hadn't accounted for the things that could interfere with his recovery. Like contracting COVID-19 over the winter. And, more significantly, a neck issue that has slowed his work and precluded him from making the kind of progress he anticipated.
When the Red Sox pack up in Fort Myers Tuesday afternoon and set out for Boston, Sale will travel with them. In one sense, that's a positive, since Sale will be allowed to remain with his teammates as the 2021 season gets underway. But measured in another way, it's a reminder of how far Sale still must travel. After all, if Sale were actually close to finishing his rehab, he would be left behind in Fort Myers, where the warm weather and ample facilities would allow his throwing program to accelerate.
Still, Sale remains resolute in his comeback.
"This is definitely the most different spring training I've had,'' Sale told BostonSportsJournal.com, "with, obviously, the (COVID) protocols and everything, and, on a personal level, this is the first spring I've ever rehabbed, like come into spring training with an injury. Last year, I had had the PRP (platelet-rich plasma injections), but we kind of thought I was in the clear. So, yeah, it's been an adjustment. But you do everything you can on a daily basis and that's basically been my focus.''
Beyond the drudgery of the physical rehab and work, the endless games of long toss and running, there's the mental aspect of this comeback. Sale is as competitive as they come, and he finds himself without an outlet for that competitiveness.
"You definitely have days where you feel like it's never going to end,'' he acknowledged, "and there was kind of a hiccup in the plan with my neck issues. You feel like you're climbing this hill forever, like you're always going to be stuck in this position. But that's not the case. Sometimes you get so acute with your focus. If you're looking straight down at the ground, you're not going to see where you're going. Every once in a while, you just need a reminder like, 'Hey, take a breath, look up and keep grinding.' ''
Without anywhere else to place it, Sale channels his energy into the drudgery of his daily work, ensuring that he takes no shortcuts and cuts no corners since doing so will only cheat himself out of a proper rehab. But that doesn't mean he doesn't experience frustration.
"I'm not good at being patient,'' he confessed with a chuckle. "I have three young sons and I'm hurt and my patience has been tested to the max this year. It's like I'm chained to a pole right now, trying to run away and I can't go anywhere. Sometimes, you just have to be at peace with that and know that at the back end of it, you're going to get the work in -- if you put the work in.''
Improbably, Sale has found that being off the mound for the past 12 or so months has had some unintended consequences. He's learned that self-pity over his injury would be counterproductive.
"I'm not going to get anything out of it if I'm walking around, saying, 'This sucks... I'm hurt... it's not fun,''' he said. "Does it suck? Yeah. There's nothing glamorous about rehab. But the only thing I can change is the future. And that's what I'm trying to do. I can't go back and change anything that happened. All I can really do is change the outcome.''
One thing Sale hasn't done is measure his rehab against two other high-profile righthanders pitching in the Northeast. Both Luis Severino of the Yankees and Noah Syndergaard of the Mets had their surgeries at relatively the same time as Sale. There's been video of Syndergaard throwing to Mets hitters in camp, but Sale won't use their progress as a measuring stick.
"To be completely honest with you, I couldn't tell you what either of those guys are doing,'' he said. "Obviously, I'm hoping for the best. Those are both friggin' power arms with electric stuff when they're right, but that's not really any of my business. That doesn't really have anything to do with me. I can't reframe my rehab off what they're doing. I've got my own thing going on and I've got to keep grinding with that. That's where my focus is.''
Though he wouldn't disclose any specifics, Sale said there is a "loose timetable'' for his anticipated return. The battle now, he added, is to speed that up -- responsibly.
"My job,'' he said, "is to make it very uncomfortable for (the Red Sox trainers and medical staff and coaching staff) and make them make some tough decisions. I'm trying to push the envelope -- in a safe way, obviously. That's all I can do -- work as hard as I can and hopefully push that (return) date closer than what they're telling me.'
Through it all, Sale has resisted the temptation to feel sorry for himself and has attempted to keep things in perspective. Bad as it's been, he knows it could be far worse.
"All these things are going to make me tougher,'' vowed Sale. "You can either take it and sit in the corner and pout about it. Or you can be better from it. But let's be honest, man -- I'm a major league baseball player who had surgery on his elbow and had a little hiccup for a couple of months from a neck issue. There's a lot more to be had out there. There's a lot worse, a lot worse circumstances. When I'm sitting here complaining about surgery or my neck is tight, you have to look at the mirror on those days and ask, 'What am I really complaining about?'
"You look at the news, look around, you see what's going on in the world and in our country... I think I can get out of bed and keep grinding.''
Even limiting his scope to the world of baseball, Sale knows he's been pretty fortunate. Before arriving in Boston, he had only minor ailments with the Chicago White Sox. He missed some time in 2018 with a sore shoulder, but returned in time for the postseason, closing out the World Series by fanning the side in Game 5 of the World Series.
"You look at my professional career, and this is the first time I've had the shit end of the stick,'' he said. "I've had a couple of blips, but other than that, it's been relatively smooth. For the first time, this is really hard work. Being able to look back and being able to say that? There's something to be said for that. I'm appreciative of that.''
There are times, Sale admitted, where, frustrated by his relative inactivity, he sneaks a peak of past outings on video "just to feel what that felt like.''
He remains determined to be as good if not better than he was.
"I never want to be complacent, I never want to be satisfied,'' he said. "I want to stay hungry. I want more. When it comes to baseball, I'm greedy. I want to keep winning. I want to get back to October, I want to win another championship. If I look back and feel comfortable with what I've done or where I've been, that's going to take away from where I need to go and what needs to happen.
"There's always something to work on. There's never been a perfect game in which someone struck out the side in nine immaculate innings. Until that happens, you still have something to work on. And I'll never not think that way. I'll never waver from where I think I need to be and the expectations that come with that.''
Sale battles guilt over being unavailable to help his teammates, and that extends to the self-consciousness that he feels in not delivering in exchange for his $30 million paycheck for 2021.
"That's part of the reason that I've got a lot of fire burning in me right now,'' he said. "I'm not somebody that just takes handouts. For my family and my charities and (alma mater) Gulf Coast University, it was good that I signed that contract because I can do some amazing things for people. But don't think for one second that it doesn't piss me right off that I'm one of the highest-paid dudes on this team and I'm not doing anything.
"We've got a Thanksgiving table, I'm bringing nothing to it and I'm eating a lot of food. That's not who I am, that's not how I was raised. The only thing I can do is, on the back end of this, give these guys what they deserve -- and that's a No. 1 who goes out there and wins.''
And, despite the delays and obstacles, he has no doubt that day is coming.
"I'm confident,'' he concluded. "The way I feel, the people I have in my corner -- our training staff, our coaching staff -- the facilities we have, the resources we have. It's all in my corner. I have everything I could possibly need to get through this. I'm very, very confident that I'll be back out there.''
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