Long road back to baseball finds Cam Booser anchoring White Sox' bullpen

A few years ago, left-hander Cam Booser was the guy installing acoustical ceilings like the one above his locker in the White Sox’ clubhouse at Rate Field.

Now the Sox’ new power reliever can only look up at it and shake his head.

“I probably wouldn’t believe it if I went back three, four years ago and told myself we’d end up here,” Booser told the Sun-Times on Tuesday, a month after making his first major-league Opening Day roster in an injury-plagued career he once gave up on in favor of carpentry.

A high school standout from the Seat-tle area, Booser broke his femur playing football, then fractured vertebrae lifting weights — and that was before he ended up under the knife for Tommy John surgery in his freshman year at Oregon State.

Clawing his way into the Twins’ farm system in 2013, Booser suffered a torn labrum. While recovering from that surgery, he got hit by a car that broke his back but not his spirit — at least not until 2017.

That’s when his first comeback ended after being suspended 50 games for a positive marijuana test. He stepped away from the game soon after, returning to Seattle to work as a union carpenter, installing specialty wood ceilings.

Along the way, Booser said he developed a drinking problem that “caused me to burn most bridges that I had built with most people.”

He credits his faith and a strong family network with pulling him out of a hole. And while giving pitching lessons to youngsters, he rediscovered a nasty 98 mph fastball to propel him back to the field.

A 2021 stint with the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball rejuvenated his unlikely journey back to the mound, which came to a head last April, when he was called up by the Red Sox for his major-league debut at 31. He was a steadying presence with 43 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA in 43 appearances (42⅔ innings).

“Ultimately, I’m just extremely blessed to have an opportunity to be here and to come back and play the game that I love so much,” Booser said.

The Sox traded a prospect in December to acquire the soon-to-be 33-year-old pitcher, who had been sharp out of the gate in 11 appearances before a bad outing Wednesday against the Brewers. He was charged with three runs and allowed two hits and two walks in the eighth inning after getting the last out in the seventh. His ERA ballooned from 3.38 to 5.73.

‘‘[His stuff is] mid- to upper-90s from the left-handed side,’’ Sox general manager Chris Getz said. ‘‘He can attack with multiple pitches. He’s fearless out there. We’re not scared to put him in any situation.”

Booser also is the de facto elder statesman in a young bullpen that’s sure to see a steady stream of fresh new faces cycling up and down from the minors.

“He's older in the sense of his age, but he’s still kind of new to the big leagues,” pitching coach Ethan Katz said. “He’s a voice of reason to everybody, but he’s still out there learning just like everybody else.”

If Booser can keep anchoring the back of the Sox’ bullpen, he’s likely to be a valuable commodity at the trade deadline and find himself on a roster with postseason aspirations. He’s not thinking that far ahead, though.

“The younger me would have been focused on a month down the road, two months down the road,” Booser said. “Now I try to do my best to just really appreciate each and every day. I’m an older guy. I never know what my last day is going to be.”

And if it sounds like a made-for-TV story, you can go ahead and watch for yourself. His Boston comeback story is featured on an episode of the Netflix series “The Clubhouse.”

He won’t be watching anytime soon.

“I’m trying to just keep it tuned as much into this clubhouse as possible,” he said. “There’s just so many memories from last year, and I know that when I watch that, I’m going to get emotional, get nostalgic. I’m just trying to kind of wait until the offseason, where I can really enjoy it.”