For Chris Sale, Saturday’s return to JetBlue Park, where he spent seven Spring Trainings with the Red Sox, started with an homage to a late legend. As the lanky Braves lefty threw his first pitch in the bottom of the first to Jarren Duran,

Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox legend Luis Tiant passed away this past October at the age of 83. The three-time All-Star and two-time AL ERA leader spent eight seasons in Boston, and even has a sausage stand named after him outside of Fenway Park.

Tiant] was a special person,” Sale said of Tiant, who died in October. “I just felt like that was something cool for me to be able to do to kind of tip my cap to him.”