Chad Tracy recounts a ‘whirlwind’ weekend: a surprise phone call, a sleepless night and first MLB win

Tracy was also presented with the lineup card and a ball from the game, to be sent to an authenticator and framed for posterity.

It was the culmination of a crazy weekend that saw Tracy pack hurriedly Saturday, fly from Worcester to Baltimore and arrive at the team hotel between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Even then, he was occupied with some conversations with members of the organization, while returning texts from friends and family members offering congratulations.

Sunday morning, there were more conversations, and a chance to address the team for a few minutes after Breslow explained the staff changes.

In the chaos of the past 12 hours, Tracy said talking to the players — many of whom have either played for him in Worcester as they climbed the minor league ladder or spent time with him on rehab assignments — was when he felt most relaxed.

“When I started seeing the players before the bus left (the hotel),” he said, “each player I saw it just started to calm me more. The more conversations I had with them, the more it calmed me. One of the things I shared with them (in addressing the clubhouse) was, of all the chaos and stuff that’s been going on, stepping into the room was probably the calmest I’ve been. Looking around the room, probably 75 percent of the guys have played for me. So I’m not speaking to a bunch of guys who don’t know who I am or what I’m about.”

Asked before the game Sunday to share his managerial philosophy or style, Tracy said he was adaptable.

“Style, I think it’s predicated on who’s on your team,” he said. “If you have a (certain) style and the players don’t fit that style, that can be foolish. I think it’s about adapting to your team. What do you have? What are you capable of doing? We have athletes, we have speed, so I look at that like, ‘Well, we’ve got to get people on base. Let’s move, let’s be aggressive. That’s what worked last year when it was going, You get these guys on base and we start creating havoc.’ So I look at it like, ‘What is on your team and how do you use the tools and skills of what’s on your team the best way to help your team?’”

Before he knew it, the game beckoned, and Tracy felt a sense of normalcy as players began preparing. It was time.

“I felt like when they came out into the dugout, it was about baseball,’' he said. ”There’s been a lot going on and a lot of talk about it. We had a ton of meetings to go through things for them to get comfortable with me and me to talk to them. When we got out there, it was like, ‘Now we get to play baseball.’ So I felt like they were right where they should be.”

And so, after years of waiting, was Tracy.

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