Chris Sale is one White Sox I actually have a lot of respect for, but his uncharacteristically assholish antics and comments in Detroit Wednesday have diminished that respect and earned him this week’s award in a landslide.
Binoculargate, as it’s come to be known, was set off by a paranoid Sale who went psychotic over his inability to get Victor Martinez out. V-Mart has simply OWNED Sale over his career, going 15 for 29 lifetime against him for a robust .517 batting average including 3 doubles, 3 home runs, and a mind-blowing 1.494 OPS. Apparently Sale’s futility against him was so vexing that it finally made him lose his shit.
Prior to the plunking, Sale was seen miming binoculars while wildly gesturing to a phantom menace in the center field bleachers on multiple occasions, obviously accusing V-Mart of some kind of sign-stealing conspiracy.
But if the Tigers were actually cheating, they were certainly doing a terrible job of it. At the time of his freakout, Sale had held Tigers batters to zero runs on just three hits while striking out out nine.
Even more annoying thanSale’s bullshit actions on the field were his bullshit post-game comments:
“One got away,” lied Sale. And then… “There was a guy wearing me out in the bullpen, talking about how good the Tigers are and how good Victor has been against me. That was for him.’’
So which is it, Chris? Did one get away or did you really plunk an MVP candidate just because someone in the crowd heckled you?? What the fuck are you talking about?? What’s worse is you wouldn’t even own your childish antics on the mound and in the dugout.
“Definitely wasn’t for binoculars. I was just goofing off. I’m out there trying to have a good time.’’
Seriously?? Everyone knows what you were doing and you certainly didn’t look like you were having a “good time” out there. Just sack up and own what you did.
In a lame attempt to defend Sale after Brad Ausmus called him out on his “weak” bullshit, Robin Ventura made a fool of himself:
“I know Chris is not weak; I know that. I know, if anything, he’s not weak and we don’t do weak things. And Chris doesn’t do weak things. He should probably worry about his own team and invest a little more in his own team. Don’t worry about my team.”
Actually, Robin, what Sale did was in fact extremely weak on almost every level. Let me list the ways for you:
- Hitting a batter because you are frustrated he is so good against you is WEAK.
- Hitting a batter and potentially knocking him out of a playoff race with a serious injury is WEAK.
- Hitting a batter when his team cannot retaliate because they are in a playoff race and cannot risk a suspension is WEAK.
- Making a ridiculous scene on the mound an in the dugout throughout the game obviously implying someone is helping a batter cheat and then not owning afterwards is WEAK.
As the Tigers venture on into the playoffs and the Sox go home, one thing is certain — this isn’t over by any stretch of the imagination. Someone wearing black and white is getting beaned the next time the two sides face off, and the Sox will have only Sale to blame, not some boogeyman in centerfield.
Major League A*Holes 
Sale is a whiny little bitch.