White Sox suspend top pitcher Chris Sale for 5 days

The White Sox players left Seattle on July 20 without paying clubhouse dues and tips, objecting to a new Mariners policy that redirects 60 percent of the dues into an account managed by the team, according to major-league sources.

It looks like Chicago White Sox star pitcher Chris Sale is very particular about the clothes he puts on his back.

– Sale was mysteriously scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday.

Sale himself was not quite so happy, though, when he learned about the throwback 1976 Chicago White Sox jerseys the team was scheduled to wear that game for the park’s promotional heritage day.

But since Sale, as a starting pitcher, endeavors about the most risky job in baseball every fifth day, and because the White Sox have a whole lot riding on his left arm – whether he’s traded or not – then how is it in any way justifiable to force even an inkling of discomfort when he’s on the mound?

So while some sections of the White Sox fanbase may want Konerko to come back and manage a team that’s “mired in mediocrity”, as general manager Rick Hahn said last week, that’s not something the guy with 439 career home runs is going to consider.

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.

And again, I get that there are complicating factors, and for all I know maybe Sale complains about absolutely everything beyond closed doors, from his seat on the plane to the bullpen snack selection to the temperature of the training-room whirlpool, and someone finally had enough and told Sale to just deal with the throwbacks for the day. The club announced the All-Star left-hander had been suspended five days for insubordination and destroying team equipment.

There hasn’t been much love for the White Sox since a 23-10 start. He’s a 27-year-old lefty ace with a 14-3 record. Adam LaRoche retired as a result, and Sale hung the LaRoches’ jerseys in his locker. The last Cub to lead the NL in RBI in a season was Sammy Sosa in 2001 (160).

It’s a longshot, but Sale would cement the Red Sox as the best starting staff in the American League, perhaps as long as into 2019.

Orioles 5, Indians 3: Pinch-hitter Nolan Reimold hit a game-winning, two-out homer in the ninth inning after Pedro Alvarez reached on a strikeout, and Baltimore completed a three-game sweep. He’s batting.378 (14/37) in nine interleague games this year. “Yet there are not as many good starting pitchers available”, Avila said.

– People said amusing things on Twitter after details of the incident spilled out, as they are wont to do with such outrageous, freakish stories.