Watch Emotional Video of Aaron Barrett Finding out He's Recalled by Nationals

Championships and Hall of Fame careers receive much of the fanfare, but it's often the smaller emotional moments that make sports so special. 

Pitcher Aaron Barrett was the centerpiece of one of those moments Tuesday when Harrisburg Senators manager Matt LeCroy fought through tears to tell him he was headed back to the major leagues.

The reactions from LeCroy as well as Barrett's teammates say plenty about the pitcher's inspirational determination and perseverance on a rocky path back to the Washington Nationals:

As Jeff Passan of ESPN detailed, Barrett hasn't pitched in the majors since 2015. He missed the 2016 and 2017 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery and suffering a broken humerus, which Passan called "the worst pitching injury."

He pitched in Low-A ball as a 30-year-old in 2018 and then spent the 2019 campaign on the Nationals' Double-A affiliate before this call up completed his journey back to the highest level.

"Sometimes I need to take a step back and tell myself, 'Dude, you're doing it,'" Barrett said of his comeback in March, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. "It makes me emotional just thinking about it."

It made his teammates and manager emotional as well.