All of it was great.
Chris Sale took his rightful place on a Major League mound for the first time in just over two years shortly before 4:10 p.m.
The Red Sox offense staked him to leads of 4-0 and 6-0 before he walked off the mound following the top of the fifth inning leading 7-2. Shortly thereafter, in probably no coincidence, the Red Sox put up a seven spot and led 14-2 before Hirokazu Sawamura officially relieved Sale in the top of the sixth inning after 89 pitches, 60 strikes, eight strikeouts and zero walks.
For a team that had been sputtering since before the All-Star Break, the sight of the lanky lefthander on the Fenway Park mound (and the Triple-A Orioles) was like a breath of fresh air. It was, in a word, emotional.
"Today was a special day for this organization," said Alex Cora. "Today was one of those days that you feel very proud to be a Red Sox. It's kind of like the same feeling we had October 28, 2018. We accomplished something huge for us. And I'm glad that he's back. He is ready to go. This isn't about five innings or two home runs or getting the W. This was about a man that really cares about this organization. He takes it seriously. He's very accountable, he's very genuine. He's very transparent. And for him to go out there and perform ... I mean, that made my day."
Athletes across every sport battle back from serious injury. All but the very few have to do it. It can cause them to doubt their athletic mortality, and whether they'll be able to do it again. When they do come back, almost all of them take great pride in what they have accomplished. And they should. The tedious hours, days, weeks, months and years of rehab are not easy. There are many days of struggle. There are many doubts. So when they return, nearly back to form, there's a great sense of individual accomplishment that they wear for all to see.
That's what made Sale's reaction on Saturday so unique. We've heard other athletes be thankful for being able to return to do what they love, and they often thank God for guiding them on that road.
But I'm not sure I've ever heard an athlete the caliber of Sale be so appreciative of everyone around him — his family, friends, teammates, the organization and the fans — for supporting him ... pushing him, actually, during his winding road to Saturday.
"You know these guys had my back since the jump, my family too," Sale said. "I'm very, very lucky and very fortunate. Through all this, I've been able to realize that more. I had some bad days over the last couple of years but they're not bad compared to a lot of people's bad days and perspective has helped me out a lot. I mean, hell I was on top of the world. After the last pitch of the World Series, showed up to spring training, signed this huge freakin' contract. And (snap) like that ... gone. Clearly I wasn't expecting it, no one expected it to happen. No one knew this was gonna be the thing that happened but I so freakin' appreciate it.
"I'm a tough guy to deal with on good day, I had a lot of bad days. So for my family to stay behind me, I became a better person on the back end of this, I would like to think. Not patting myself on the back, it's the people I'm surrounded by, people in my corner. This training staff, they've done everything they can possibly do to get me back out on that field. My teammates give me life, man. This thing was taken from me for two straight years and then I realized how much I needed this game and how much I needed my teammates, and how they made me feel complete again. I had a hole in my chest for the last two years and it sucked. And for those guys to be there ... it was a special moment I got a lot of people I have to thank ... people that a lot of people don't know but they helped me in ways that I couldn't help myself, getting my life on track, getting my body back on onboard, getting my nutrition right. Those are the people that I had in my corner in Florida, on top of the fact that people have here in Boston, the guys in my clubhouse, and my family, my family, damn near drove me through this, so there's not a single ounce of me that thinks I'd be there without any of that."
It's the kind of talk that comes from an athlete that truly wasn't sure if he would ever pitch in a Major League game again. It wouldn't surprise me if he contemplated just retiring at various points. Being over 30, a star for a decade in the majors and a World Series champion, Sale didn't have much more to gain making this comeback. He could have sailed off and made it to Cooperstown.
"Not much more to gain" ... that's what you say when you really don't know the inner workings of a star athlete. Sale, who was injured almost immediately after signing a huge extension with the Red Sox, was never going to do that to this organization, his teammates, the fans or his family. It's not in his makeup.
This journey ... Sale didn't do it for Saturday, specifically. He did it for Cora. He did it for his teammates. That much we know from the private postgame moment in the locker room, when Sale did all the talking.
"It was really cool," said Cora. "It was good. Those moments, we don't take for granted. And we always talk we're family. And we get happy for each other and we suffer for each other. It was smiling, we cried together, you know, throughout the journey. And today, it was fun, it was great, it was refreshing. I will never forget that moment, you know, when we got back to the clubhouse. It's something that is very special and we have some special moments throughout the season, even before the game we celebrated JD (Martinez) ... 10 years in the big leagues. And for a guy that was a 20th round pick, we know the whole story, and he's been in the big leagues for 10 years. It just it was just overall a special day."
There will likely be some talk about how Sale's return will give this team a boost and perhaps it will kick them into a new gear as the playoffs draw closer. Even Sale couldn't believe the atmosphere around the team.
"My guys brought it today," said Sale, of the offense that pounded out 17 hits and 16 runs. "I could feel that from the second ... I mean, I stepped out of the car and the guys in the parking lot, made me feel great. It was .... when I got in this clubhouse I felt it, I knew something was going on. I knew today was gonna be incredible. I didn't know how I was going to do, but I knew my guys were gonna frigging bring it and to be able to have that in my first one back ... they carried the load. They made this game what it was and without that, who knows what happens."
That feeling before the game. That meeting in the clubhouse after the game. That's why Sale did all of this. The win and his stats were nice, but just to be part of baseball and the Red Sox again ... that's truly all that Sale wanted.
"When I, when I stepped out of the dugout. I knew there was gonna be something ... I wasn't expecting all that," Sale said of the crowd's ovation. "And you're just trying to soak in moments. This isn't gonna last forever. And today was a special day for me and a lot of other people. I wanted to recognize that, I wanted to feel it, and I wanted to, you know, soak in as much as I could. ... I'll be completely honest with you, I took days for granted. I've been a big leaguer for 11 years now. And, you know, I took moments, I took days, I took weeks for granted. Through all of this, I guess I've had a huge perspective change. I feel like I can tell you one thing: I'm not wasting another damn day of my big league career. That's just not going to happen. I'm too much in a different spot. I've got too many people surrounding me that are unbelievable people that push me to be a better person on a daily basis. So I just try to appreciate things a little bit more and know what it means to people. It just makes it more meaningful to myself."
Now the fun starts.