Chris Sale is one of the best pitchers on earth. He’s 14-3 this season with an ERA of 3.18 and a WHIP of 1.008, so if you’re going up against the Chicago White Sox and Sale is on the mound, odds are you’re in for a really tough afternoon.
So when the Detroit Tigers saw that Sale was slated to start Sunday’s game between the two AL Central rivals, they probably weren’t looking forward to having to deal with one of the best pitchers in the American League. That is until they found out that Sale’s start on Saturday got scratched, which is weird, because he was healthy and ready to go once he got to the ballpark.
As it turns out, Sale was involved in a locker room incident, which led to him getting sent home, according to a statement released by the team.
Official: Chris Sale has been scratched from tonight’s scheduled start.
STATEMENT: pic.twitter.com/wOB8JTsjzu
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 23, 2016
So some people did some digging and found out that Sale completely lost his mind when he got to the locker room and saw that the White Sox were supposed to wear these throwback uniforms:
Tonight the @whitesox will turn the clock back to '76 pic.twitter.com/1VjJhciJKf
— Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) July 23, 2016
These are called the team’s “leisure suit” uniforms, and they have the distinction of being one of the ugliest unis in all of sports. According to reports, Sale saw these uniforms – which he dislikes because they are “uncomfortable” – and responded by cutting his up and cutting up the uniforms of his teammates.
Not a joke: Source says Sale blowup was because he didn't want to wear throwbacks, so he cut the jerseys up so no one could wear them.
— Tommy Stokke (@StokkeTommy) July 23, 2016
Source: "Sale asked that they not wear (throwbacks) on his day because they are uncomfortable. Things escalated when they wouldn't relent."
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 24, 2016
Second source confirms throwbacks as source of Sale incident. He did not want to wear them, deal with discomfort during game.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 24, 2016
Sale also apparently disliked what these uniforms represented. In his view, wearing a gimmicky uniform like this shows that the team puts getting attention over winning baseball games.
Sources say: Sale cut up throwbacks during batting practice. Upset that, in his view, PR and jersey sales were more important than winning.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 24, 2016
If you’re a White Sox fan, this had to have been a little bittersweet. While Sale completely lost his mind, at least his start got scratched for a reason other than “he got traded to another team.” On the flip side, if you’re another team, maybe you can swoop in while emotions are high and trade for Sale at a discounted price. Just be warned: he really dislikes when you wear jerseys from the 1970s that used to be worn with shorts.
