The flags were unfurled: 2004, 2007, and finally, 2013.
They covered the Fenway Park field prior to another Red Sox loss - this one an 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Guardians. The trio of dates represented world championships reeled in with David Ortiz in a Sox uniform.
Fitting considering it was a night honoring the now Hall-of-Famer.
It was 25 minutes or so to bask in what was. Not only thanks to Ortiz - who addressed the crowd with his 344-word speech - but also because of those surrounding the honoree for the big event. Theo Epstein. Terry Francona. John Farrell. Former teammates. And even the current ownership group that allowed for such waves of success to take place.
But, at the same time, it was difficult to wonder why such feelings of accomplishment and bravado immediately ended when the field was cleared for the actual game.
Juxtaposing the sight of Ortiz being pushed in the home run cart three-plus hours before the current collection of Red Sox went home exclusive owners of last-place in the American League East should have been striking.
It undoubtedly wasn't lost on manager Alex Cora, who has lived the good life more times than not with the Red Sox. Even without the pomp and circumstance, he knows how great it can be, and how what his team is currently experiencing is far from that feeling.
The feeling of what-used-to-be was actually a four-day excursion down memory lane, with the likes of Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and Trot Nixon all mingling among the celebratory Ortiz selfies in Cooperstown over the weekend.
Now, the Red Sox are left with their cold, hard, last-place reality.
The number of faces for the franchise - of which the clubhouse used to be chock full of - have thinned out. And those who were supposed to represent the kind of support system that usually paves the path to the postseason are either hurt or underperforming.
All the while, it has left Chaim Bloom having to ward off the anxiety with very unspecific answers to a growing pile of questions.
“It’s useful shorthand, but internally we hate thinking that way. And I don’t think anybody around here likes thinking that way,” Bloom said on the NESN pregame show when asked about the Red Sox status as either a buyer or seller at the trade deadline. “I can tell you, like I said, I think everybody kind of moved between what happened before the break and what happened this weekend and wrote off this group. We’re not.
“We’re trying to make the postseason. So, whatever that means — we’re going to explore a lot of stuff. Some of them might be things people expect, some of them might not be. But you know, we want to get this group into the postseason.”
When the Red Sox woke up Wednesday morning, three teams were now between them and the final Wild Card spot, which resided 3 1/2 games away.
The Red Sox media relations staff was trying to put the masses at ease with a heavy dose of Twitter optimism.
Fair enough. But the thing to remember about those Braves was that they went for it at the trade deadline. Jorge Soler. Eddie Rosario. Adam Duvall. Joe Pederson. They were all significant July additions even with Atlanta living in that weird world of .500 baseball.
Now we are about to find out which path Bloom and Co. are about to take. Will we be riding through August reveling in the heroics of the perceived foundational pieces that still remain - Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi and Trevor Story? Or will we be bludgeoned over the head with Ortiz Hall of Fame remembrances and prospect promises?
It can be good again. It's just a shame on July 26 the Red Sox need a pregame ceremony to bring that promise to the surface.
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