Kyle Schwarber wore a Red Sox uniform for a very brief time.

41 regular-season games and 11 postseason games, to be precise.

His impact on the 2021 Red Sox, however, was enormous. He joined a squad that not only defied all the last-place predictions, but took their unexpected October run all the way to Game 6 of the ALCS.

This week, Schwarber is back at Fenway for the first time since signing his four-year, $79 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies during the ‘21-22 offseason. He’d hit 25 home runs for the Washington Nationals before the ‘21 trade deadline, but he’d been on the injured list since early July, making the acquisition all the more intriguing (and risky) for Boston.

“When we traded (for) him obviously, it was a weird day,” Alex Cora said before Tuesday’s series opener. “But understanding that when healthy, he was gonna contribute.”

Schwarber didn’t get into a Red Sox game until August 13, but he began making an impact on Day 1.

“When we got him in Tampa, trade deadline, Game 2 against the Rays of that series, it was (Ryan) Yarbrough against us,” Cora recalled. “And (the coaches) are going over the meeting, talking about the fastball and the cutter and this and that, and then they go, ‘Anybody has anything to say?’ And Kyle, first day with us, he’s like, ‘Bro this guy stinks, lets go kick their ass.’ And we were like, ‘Oh (expletive)!’ But I think that set the tone: play with confidence, go out there and do your thing, and he did. It was fun to watch.”

(The Red Sox proceeded to tag Yarbrough for five earned runs on four hits, including a pair of homers.)

“He was amazing for the group,” Cora said. “Not afraid to fail, which is very important in this town.”

The Red Sox whom Schwarber faces this week are almost entirely different from the roster he joined at the ‘21 trade deadline; Bobby Dalbec and Rafael Devers are the only remaining members of that year’s starting lineup. (Jarren Duran and Connor Wong both made their big-league debuts that season.)

“He keeps it old-school. He’s smart, but doesn’t let guys get too in-depth on stuff,” Dalbec told the Herald. “He’s one of the smartest hitters I’ve ever been around.”

He agrees with his manager: Schwarber’s energy meshed immediately.

“Funny, intense but not drill sergeant-like. Just a great guy to have in the locker room,” he said. “Clutch, that presence is real. His confidence breeds confidence in other guys.”

“Playing with him was great. Very high-energy individual, very fiery individual. At the same time, an individual that was willing to help the team in any way at that time,” Tanner Houck told the Herald. “He’d never played first base, I think, and then we had him playing first base in the playoffs.”

“I didn’t see him as a first baseman. He still doesn’t see himself as a first baseman. He actually texted me today, he’s like, ‘I’ll be catching tonight,” Cora said with a smile. (News had broken about an hour before that Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto needed surgery.)

“I would love to see that,” Houck chuckled.

Schwarber’s willingness to take on a new position only proved the manager’s point about what the slugger brought to the ‘21 team.

“The attitude and, how can I put it, he cares about posting. He cares,” Cora said emphatically. “And he wasn’t 100%, I can tell you that, throughout the playoffs… but he did everything possible to be out there.”

“As a veteran and as a leader, he was incredible. I think he was a leader in the sense of example – you could watch him get his work in and how diligent he was in getting his work done – but also he was a very vocal leader as well: not afraid to use profanities and get the boys fired up a little bit,” said Houck. “I think most people, you get one or the other, very vocal or lead-by-example type of way, but he was both, and I think he was a great teammate because of that.”

The greatest Red Sox achievements of this century were helped along by fiery, passionate players: David Ortiz smashing the bullpen phone, Chris Sale screaming in the dugout during the 2018 World Series, and Schwarber. In his absence, Dalbec sees other players filling the void in their own ways.

“Jarren (Duran) definitely brings that energy leading off in the lineup,” he said. “When Triston (Casas) is playing, he brings that energy too in his own way. (Nick) Pivetta, he’s very intense and he brings that good energy, too.”

Houck sees it somewhat differently.

“I would put Nicky P up there whenever you get him all fired up, runnin’ off the field, screamin’, I think he’s definitely a big one,” Houck said of Pivetta. “But I wouldn’t really say, I don’t really think we have that loud individual that’ll like, start screamin’ and really get on people whenever they need to. I think everyone here knows what the end goal is and knows what they gotta do each and every day to kind of get ready for the games and go out there and compete.”

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, in the right-hander’s opinion.

“You can’t force that kind of stuff; you kind of have to let it come naturally and be that kind of leader naturally. If you’re gonna force it, it’s not genuine,” Houck explained. “A guy like (Chris) Sale, he was that way: he was 100% absolute psychopath in the best way possible. I don’t think we really have that individual that will scream and get that way.”

Houck has been nicknamed variations of ‘The Righty Chris Sale’ for years. Is he prepared to take up the southpaw’s mantle?

“I’m a loud individual, but I never really scream at anyone. I think Garrett (Whitlock) should definitely take that role up,” he joked of his mild-mannered, amiable best friend.

“I think (Chris) Martin’s maybe up there as that guy for us. … (Justin) Slaten’s definitely that guy,” Houck quipped, as the rookie reliever walked by.

Back to Schwarber.

“He wasn’t here for very long but at the same time, I think the city really embraced him well and loved him and accepted what kind of player he was,” Houck said.

“When he signed with the Phillies, I told Dave (Dombrowski) that was a great move, he’s gonna change a lot of things that are happening in that clubhouse,” Cora said. “And when you talk about the Phillies, yeah Bryce (Harper) is the guy, he’s the face of the franchise. But when you talk about who’s the guy in the clubhouse, it’s Kyle.”

And on the first pitch of Tuesday night’s game it was Kyle, sending a leadoff home run 444 feet to center.