The Boston Red Sox wanted a controllable, talented infielder this season so they traded veteran ace Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Vaughn Grissom.
Sale has experienced numerous injury-related issues on and off in the last three or four years, but remains a top lefty when healthy.
He is showing just that this season, as he has been one of the best starters in Atlanta’s rotation with a 3.06 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 67.2 frames.
Still, from 2017 to 2023, he was a big part of the Red Sox’s roster and managed to contribute at least a few innings even in years he was bitten by the injury bug.
He helped Boston win a World Series in 2018 and people don’t just forget that.
In fact, as the Braves visit Boston to play at Fenway Park, people there welcomed back Sale like a hero.
“The @RedSox welcome 2018 World Series Champion Chris Sale back to Fenway Park,” MLB tweeted with a video.
The @RedSox welcome 2018 World Series Champion Chris Sale back to Fenway Park. 👏 pic.twitter.com/R4fvt5LBI1
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2024
In the short clip, you can see how the Red Sox prepared a graphic that said: “Welcome Back 2018 World Series champion Chris Sale”.
Sale acknowledged the crowd and waved at them, signaling that they are indeed in his heart after so many productive years of his career.
He was the star of the Chicago White Sox in the early-2010s, and once he was traded to Boston ahead of 2017, winning a World Series became one of his priorities.
He achieved that only a year later and actually got the last out of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Injuries (including Tommy John surgery in 2020) did take away some of his best years in Boston, but he still managed to post a 3.27 ERA in 670.2 innings as a Red Sox player.
