Aug. 22—As Chris Sale warmed up in the Fenway Park bullpen last Saturday, Dave Tollett leaned over the railing and watched as what felt like millions of butterflies floated through his chest.
“I’ve coached over 1,000 games and I think that game I was more nervous — and I had no control over anything — than I’ve ever been,” said Tollett, the head baseball coach at Florida Gulf Coast University and Sale’s college coach. “Because I know the time he’s put in with the rehab and the constant work that he’s done.”
Few are as close to Sale and his family as Tollett, who was the only Division 1 coach to offer Sale a scholarship out of high school and who has remained a close confidant throughout his major league career.
When news broke that Sale was set to return from Tommy John surgery nearly two years to the day since his last big league start, Tollett immediately booked a flight to Boston and joined his family to watch him pitch against the Baltimore Orioles.
“I don’t know who was more nervous, me or his dad,” Tollett said. “But after we got through the first we looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, he’s back, he’s ok.'”
Sale’s return was an emotional day. After the game Sale said it was an experience he’ll never forget, right up there with winning the World Series, and manager Alex Cora described it as “a special day for the organization.”
But it carried special weight for Tollett, who counts Sale as the most important player in Florida Gulf Coast baseball history and who had a front row seat throughout Sale’s rehab process.
Once an Eagle, always an Eagle
Located in Fort Myers, Florida Gulf Coast is a short drive from both Sale’s offseason home and Boston’s spring training complex. Tollett said that throughout his recovery Sale would frequently drive past campus and often stopped by to visit the team.
During his time at Florida Gulf Coast, Sale emerged as the nation’s best college pitcher, earning First Team All-American and Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Year honors as a junior. He became the program’s highest ever draft pick when he went No. 13 overall in the 2010 MLB Draft and he spent less than two months in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox.
Since then he has stayed closely involved with the Eagles program. His number was retired by the school in 2015 and earlier this year he was inducted into Florida Gulf Coast’s Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural class.
He also recently made a $1 million donation to the school, which dedicated a huge new video board at its home ballpark in his family’s name back in February.
“He does so much for our university in so many ways,” Tollett said. “Not a lot of guys do that when they leave their program, but it’s not only for our baseball program but our whole university.”
Tollett described Sale as the fiercest competitor he’s ever coached in 34 years, and in many respects that competitive nature made his recovery more difficult from a mental standpoint. Not getting to help the team constantly ate at him, and even little things like not getting to take part in pitchers fielding practice in spring training took their toll.
“It seemed like every time he got to where he wanted to be there’d be a small setback,” Tollett said.
‘You are where your feet are’
When Sale began his minor league rehab assignments, Tollett worried he might push himself too hard. Sale’s mantra, which Tollett said he often tells Florida Gulf Coast players when he comes to visit, is “there are no breaks.” You don’t stop until the manager comes and gets you, and until then you give it your all and compete every pitch.
While that approach has served Sale well as a major league pitcher, going full throttle while trying to return from major elbow surgery could have resulted in another setback and even more time on the sidelines.
That didn’t happen, however, and beyond just enjoying a smooth string of rehab starts, Sale also got to make some unique memories in his first extended time in the minor leagues. Tollett said Sale got a celebratory shower from his teammates after earning his first career double-A win in Portland, and that he got to pitch alongside fellow Florida Gulf Coast alum Kutter Crawford, who is now with Triple-A Worcester.
He also appreciated Sale riding the bus to Scranton, Pennsylvania for his final rehab start, saying that perfectly encapsulated the kind of person he is.
“He’s always been, ‘You are where your feet are,’ and if he’s in Scranton, he’s in Scranton, right?” Tollett said. “That didn’t surprise me at all.”
Tollett said Sale was originally supposed to make his return in last Friday’s series opener against the Orioles and that he had to change his flights when they got word he’d been bumped back to Saturday. But once he got to the park he was delighted to see Sale back on the mound, and even more so when Sale exhibited his trademark command of the strike zone.
But special as that was, nothing could compare to watching Sale speak from the heart in his post-game press conference, when he spent close to 15 minutes thanking everyone who played a role in helping him get through the darkest time of his baseball career.
“He’s so grateful and so thankful for everyone that is along with his journey that has got him back,” Tollett said. “And that’s just Chris, he’s one of the most grateful, not just baseball players, but human beings.”
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.
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Sale’s best pitch
Friday night Chris Sale made his second start back, pitching five scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers to improve to 2-0. But his most meaningful contribution came off the field. Chris Snow, the former Boston sportswriter and now NHL executive who is now battling ALS, was invited back after throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park last week by Sale, whose grandmother also battled ALS.
“Last week he saw us on the field @fenwaypark. Last night he invited us back,” Snow recounted on Twitter. “‘I just wanted to meet to say thank you,’ he told us. ‘You are literally changing the world. I just pitch. Do you mind if we get a picture? I’m going to send it to my mom. She is going to freak.'”