Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale has apologized for his jersey-shredding tantrum on Saturday, but hasn’t backed off his stance that the team shouldn’t have been forced to wear the throwback uniforms.
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Scott Merkin of MLB.com caught up with Sale on Monday to get his side of the story.
Chris Sale confirmed he did not prefer to wear the 1976 White Sox throwback uniforms that were laid out for the players prior to Saturday night’s game. He also called out manager Robin Ventura for not fighting for the team.
“Robin [Ventura] is the one who has to fight for us in that department”, Sale opined regarding his manager. “Do I regret saying business should not be first before winning?”
“The incident, which was non-physical in nature, now is under further investigation by the club”, general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement.
“We understood what happened, but you can’t get it back, you can’t turn back the clock”, third baseman Todd Frazier said before Monday night’s game against the North Siders.
Third baseman Todd Frazier didn’t directly address Sale’s situation but said he has seen his fair share of odd things during his career: “It’s insane”.
The White Sox had planned on wearing 1976 throwback uniforms featuring collars – widely considered to be among the ugliest uniforms in professional sports history.
He didn’t confirm that he cut the jerseys as the reports said but he did explain why he was so upset about the decision to wear them. The Chicago White Sox scratched him from his start, sent him home, suspended him for five games, and all of this happened against the backdrop of Sale being the most desirable commodity on any team on the planet available at the trade deadline. I only get more passionate about it because I know that it’s not easy winning a championship. “When I can’t or don’t do that, yeah, I have disappointment in myself for not being there for my guys”.
Ventura acknowledged his relationship with his best player has been altered, even damaged.
Obviously, the White Sox management found out quickly about the jerseys Sale had destroyed and were not at all happy about it, and Ventura says he was informed about Sale’s destroyed jerseys incident about two hours before the game was scheduled to start. The game was interrupted three times by thunderstorms on Saturday before getting suspended after eight innings tied at 3. He was the American League starting pitcher in this year’s All-Star Game in San Diego.
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“I want to stay here”, Quintana said before the game. Starter Matt Albers gave up a run in two innings, and David Robertson (1-2) got the final four outs to pick up the win in relief. “If it’s going to affect the style of play or the outcome of the game, I just thought that would be a no-brainer”.
