Chris Sale explains why trade from Red Sox was a ‘knuckleball from left field’
Sale said the "best days" and "worst days" of his life were spent wearing a Red Sox uniform.
When Chris Sale reflects on his time with the Red Sox, he does so through a bittersweet lens.
“Listen, I have said this to everybody and I will say it to the day I die: The best days of my life were wearing the Red Sox uniform,” Sale said. “The worst days of my life were also in that uniform.”
Sale, speaking to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, via the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, said the idea of getting traded wasn’t on his radar.
“Why would anybody want me at this point? No chance. No chance,” Sale told Bradford. “I just had it in my mind I was going to be [in Boston]. … That wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities. That wasn’t even a thought that crossed my mind. It was just that I needed to do what I needed to do to help my team.”
Sale, following a stretch where injuries reigned supreme, finished the year healthy and was projected as the Opening Day starter per manager Alex Cora. Sale said he and new Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow played phone tag, then the first time they spoke, Breslow told him the Red Sox had a trade lined up.
“It was a freaking knuckleball from left field,” Sale said, per Bradford.
Despite the unexpected twist, Sale said he holds everyone in the organization in high regard. He noted that everyone treated him the same, whether he was at the top or “below the bottom.” Sale will always appreciate that, and he said he has nothing bad to say about anyone in Boston.
He’s excited to join a Braves team that’s “freakishly talented,” but he’ll miss Boston in many ways.
“I had some very, very, very [expletive] rough conversations, just calling to say goodbye because they were there for me,” Sale said. “You build relationships. [Expletive] phenomenal people. That was tough.”
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