It was the ‘home run’ Albion did not want to see as they looked forward to a Friday night visit to the baseball.

But one they could understand if it ended up happening.

Pascal Gross is heading home to Germany after seven memorable years which have seen him become an Albion legend.

He has joined Borussia Dortmund for a fee of initially £8 million which will also be subject to add-ons.

He had one year left on his Albion contract.

Not that this is a case of the club looking to cash-in while they can.

They wanted him to stay and help them through the Fabian Huerzeler adaptation process.

There was the option but not the necessity of that being on a new contract.

But signs so far are that Huerzeler’s adaptation is going just fine.

And, equally, Albion always knew there would be a point in the later stages of his career when Gross, from a footballing viewpoint, would want another crack at the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund, the club he used to support and a Bundesliga power, turned out to be an irresistible opportunity which might not have been there a year from now.

And when, from a personal point of view, he would look to return his family to Germany.

Gross has two children, both born in England so therefore of the age when they will be starting nursery and primary school.

A decision over what happened next was looming and discussions ongoing even as some members of the Albion party, including Paul Barber, headed to a baseball game in Tokyo on Friday evening (or morning in Europe).

The chief executive and deputy chairman was called away on an important call not long before the first pitch was thrown.

Albion still wanted Gross to stay.

However, by yesterday, it became very clear that he would make the move home for almost treble the fee Albion bought him for.

That was from Ingolstadt in 2017 and, after two games of what he admits was a footballing culture shock, he has gone on to become a pillar of the Albion Premier League era.

With 30 goals, he is the club’s top scorer in the Prem and only seven behind Michael Robinson’s top-flight record which, it appears, will remain intact for some time yet.

A bit like Gerry Ryan in the first top-flight era, he often seemed to be the man for the big goal.

He scored Albion’s first and second in the Prem, in 2017, and the home winner against Manchester United which secured safety.

Between those highlights in that debut season, his strike against Watford clinched what was Albion’s only win in a tough mid-season run of 11 games.

In that time, he played as a No.10 off the centre-forward, who was initially Tomer Hemed but usually Glenn Murray.

Gross’s three goals in 2018-19 included home and away games against Manchester United but, more importantly, a header late in the season at home to Newcastle to edge them towards safety.

Albion had gone 735 league and cup minutes without a goal when Gross nipped in to nod home beneath the North Stand and induce a relieved fist-pump from Chris Hughton.

Then came the change of boss – and Gross was among those who adapted to life under Graham Potter.

It was in that time that he started to add wing-back, or even full-back, as strings to his bow.

His double strike before the Stretford End secured the 2-1 opening-day win at Old Trafford two years ago, then came the “finished” goal at home to Potter’s Chelsea as he rounded off the 4-1 win.

If we are talking purely in goals, his final season included another at Old Trafford and the strike at Marseille which kick-started the Europa League campaign after a slow beginning.

His ten assists last term was his best in a Prem season, having three times reached eight.

Those efforts throughout the campaign earned him a double of fans’ and players’ player of the year.

He had been crowned by the fans back in 2017-18 and this double followed similar feats in the previous seasons by Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella, who both then left the club.

As we spoke to Gross late on awards night, he was asked about that, albeit in quite a jokey way.

At that stage it did not feel remotely possible he would leave this summer.

But the way he answered even at the time surprised me a little.

He replied: “No, it’s not what we want to speak about tonight.”

Then he simply referred us to the fact he had a contract until next year.

As it turned out, the man with the Cruyff turn HAS repeated history Gross has passed his UEFA B coaching qualifications and has been working towards the A licence.

He has always wanted to go into coaching.

There will be different factors in his decision and Albion will understand them.

But, together, they had quite a run.