By now, the story; nay, legend; of Chris Sale hacking all of his team’s throwback jerseys to pieces with a knife is well known.
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The Chicago White Sox have suspended ace Chris Sale for five days after an incident in the clubhouse before his scheduled start against the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball on Saturday. He was suspended Sunday for violating team rules, for insubordination and for destroying team uniforms before his scheduled start against the Tigers Friday.
Last season, Sale attempted to gain entrance into the Royals locker room after his ejection after a brawl between the teams.
Adam Eaton drove in Avisail Garcia with a game-ending single in the ninth inning to lift the White Sox to a 4-3 victory on Sunday in a game that was suspended the previous night because of rain. The jerseys had collars in the style of the 1976 White Sox, and Sale apparently found them uncomfortable and lamented that the team was putting “PR and jersey sales” ahead of winning.
The White Sox had planned on wearing 1976 throwback uniforms featuring collars – widely considered to be among the ugliest uniforms in professional sports history. “I don’t know”, Hanh remarked, continuing that Sale may have destroyed the jerseys simply because he is a man of great passion; a quality that could really help him in the final months of the season.
“I don’t think I would be traded”, Sale said, per Merkin.
“Robin is the one who has to fight for us in that department”.
From their two-straight wins over the Tigers to the start of their Crosstown Cup series with the Cubs, it pales in comparison to the pre-game jersey incident with starter Chris Sale.
Sale explained that he went to the White Sox coaching staff and management to protest the move before cutting up the jerseys, but he obviously didn’t get the answer he wanted.
Ventura also said he doesn’t think there needs to be “a big meeting or anything” with the team upon Sale’s return.
Sale’s main focus in the interview was to express his desire to win, which he says was what sparked the eventual incident. He’s 14-3 with a 3.18 ERA. Sale was vocally angry during spring training about Adam LaRoche’s son Drake being banned from the clubhouse (which prompted LaRoche’s abrupt retirement) and his personal catcher Tyler Flowers not being brought back to the club. He also said Sale continues to be a leader in the White Sox clubhouse – perhaps even more effective than Shields expected when he joined the club in early June.
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With first reports indicating Sale was scratched due to “illness”, the baseball world assumed Sale had been, or was close to, being traded because a scratch that close to a start of a game is not a normal for one of baseball’s premier pitchers, especially at this time of year. Sale was scratched from his start and later suspended for five games. Ventura said he thought players had moved on after winning two games against the Tigers on Sunday.
