Richard Fitts supplied Red Sox fans with a much-needed feel-good moment

It was a pleasant break from reality.

While the Red Sox were licking their September wounds Sunday - having just lived life as the White Sox' 33rd victory of the season thanks to a 7-2 loss to Chicago - there was a scene on the right field grass in a fairly empty Fenway Park that offered a quick dose of perspective.

It was there Richard Fitts was surrounded by family members and his high school baseball coach, with the group taking photos and reveling in this moment had been years upon years in the making. It was well after an hour after the game and Fitts still was in full uniform, helping paint and punctuate the picture.

It was clear, Fitts and family didn't want the day to end. And it would be hard to blame them.

This was the end-game, reveling in a major league debut that saw the righty pitcher not give up an earned run over his 5 2/3 innings, walking off the field to a Fenway standing ovation. But equally as memorable was what had led to the outing.

There was the intial word late in the day Saturday that after three years in professional baseball (after three at Auburn University), Fitts was going to get his big-league chance. There was little time to think or waste.

The Alabama native immediately called his family, with his father needing to interrupt his mother's hair appointment in order to pass along the good news. Plane tickets needed to be bought, with 20 people ultimately making up Fitts' Fenway entourage. And then there was the matter of getting the pitcher from Rochester, N.Y. to Boston.

Not convinced a plane ride would get him to Logan Airport at a reasonable hour Saturday night, he hopped in a car with his wife and made the six-plus hour journey.

There was thinking. There was studying. And, a few hours later, there was the kind of pitching that allowed Fitts to get this call.

Not only did Fitts offer the image of an effective major league pitcher - displaying 31 percent fastballs, which averaged just under 95 mph - but also presented a very composed package when it came to functioning at key moments in this key game.

There was the first-inning pickoff of Luis Robert. And then he adeptly killed a White Sox rally by starting a 1-6-3 double play with runners on first and third.

"My high school baseball coach is here, too. So I think he’d be a little bit pissed off at me if I didn’t throw it to second to get the double play," Fitts joked.

The rookie didn't look like a rookie ... until that well-deserved photo shoot a few hours after his first pitch.

"Today was really special, just because I got to share it with my family," Fitts said. "I’m really honored to be a Red Sox today, and hopefully for a long time. The first pitch, I was trying to throw it as hard as I can in the zone. And after he just fouls it back, I’m like, ‘OK I’m a big leaguer, I deserve to be here. And I’m going to do everything I can to help the team win.'"