NEW YORK ― Pull up a chair. Sonny Gray is ruminating on his time as a Yankee, and it got kind of deep.
Gray will be charged with keeping the Boston Red Sox’s season alive Wednesday, Sept. 30, when he takes the ball in Game 2 of the American League wild card series against New York. Game 1, a 9-0 Yankees romp, showed just how loud Yankee Stadium can get.
And Gray knows the pinstriped faithful will be loaded for bear after his offseason comments noting that it’s "easy to hate the Yankees" – made in the wake of his trade from the St. Louis Cardinals to Boston – put him on the other side of this storied rivalry.
Gray’s first go didn’t go great, as he struggled with the Yankees in 2017 and 2018 after a trade from Oakland, a 27-year-old dude adjusting
to significant expectations.
Fast forward to 2026 and Gray, 36, is an 18-game winner with a 2.72 ERA for the surprise Red Sox, now a three-time All-Star who’s had plenty of time to reflect on his career.
He believes those two seasons in the Bronx, where he posted a 4.51 ERA, briefly lost his rotation spot and struggled with injury, steeled him for the rest of his career.
Including coming back as a pariah to the fans.
"I came from Oakland, and Oakland to here," Gray said, launching into a two and a half minute answer on how fans might perceive of him after his winter comments berating the Yankees. "I think that maybe during my time there was a lot of outside this, outside that, unfamiliarity with me and my situation and my family.
"It's kind of like one of those things that you have a snowball or whatever, right? And there's a snowball that kind of starts rolling down a hill. If you don't ever stop it, then the snowball just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and it picks up traction and it just gets more snow. And it just continues to go down this thing.
"And the then the bigger the snowball gets, the harder it is to stop it or take a step back. And for me, it just took me to get away and get myself into a different environment and then reflect on those things, right, like reflect on what was good, what was bad, what didn't work. And that took some time."
Not too much time, though. Gray was an All-Star in 2019 after the Yankees spun him off to the Cincinnati Reds. While injuries hampered him in multiple seasons, he was very dependable and a valued workhorse in Cincinnati and Minnesota before signing a three-year, $75 million contract with St. Louis.
Gray tossed 180 and 184 innings in 2023 and 2025. The Cardinals, suddenly in a rebuild, took advantage of his value to send him to Boston, where he’s been terrific.
Thanks in part to taking a little bit of the Bronx with him.
"I do know that playing here made me a stronger person, made me a better man, a better husband," says Gray, who along with wife Jessica has two sons. "Ultimately, it made me a better pitcher, a better baseball player. And that's kind of what I take from my time here. I think there's a lot of people and a lot of players that can have one bump in the road and not get back on the tracks.
"And for me, there's been bumps along the way and that may have been a little bit of a bigger bump than others. But then to be able to re-center, to refocus, to continue to have confidence in yourself and not get off the wagon, get back on the wagon and continue to move forward in your career and in your life as well.
"I learned a lot."
The Red Sox are grateful. This season was bumpy, what with the firing of manager Alex Cora after 27 games, a fair amount of rotation uncertainty with Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet getting sidelined for five months and continued struggles of Brayan Bello. Another lost season seemed to be loading.
But the Red Sox won 21 of 25 games in July to rally for a playoff spot. Ultimately, rookie left-hander Payton Tolle emerged as an ace-caliber weapon. They lined up behind Gray first.
"He's had a great career. He’s a pitcher to its finest degree," says veteran Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. "He's very detail-oriented. And he's gonna be ready. There's no doubt.
"He's shown that he can lead the staff this year, Beast going down and Sonny stepped up and filled some big shoes.
"And all he did was just be him. That's the guy he is."
Being Sonny Gray will have to suffice Wednesday night. The Red Sox’s survival depends on it. They hold a 2027 option on Gray, though he can opt out if they exercise it, which could lead to a longer-term commitment, or a polite goodbye.
Those are issues for another day. Gray is still in the now, and Wednesday night he’ll be in Yankee Stadium, where he is expecting an impolite welcome, one he feels steeled to endure as he pitches from a place of greater comfort.
"I've really enjoyed my time in Boston. I really have," says Gray. "My family's enjoyed it. It's been a great place for us."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sonny Gray must save Red Sox season in Bronx, where he couldn't stop 'snowball'
