White Sox P Chris Sale apologizes for jersey incident

Sale said he regrets having to miss games, but that he doesn’t regret standing up for what he believes in.

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Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale has apologized for the jersey-cutting incident that resulted in his five-day suspension, saying that he regrets having to miss games but that he does not regret standing up for what he believes in.

Sale was fined and suspended for five days after being scratched from his scheduled start for cutting up the team’s throwback jerseys as a protest over being forced to wear them against his will.

“I have regret, because I play 33 times a year at most in the regular season,” Sale told MLB.com on Monday. “So I put a lot of emphasis on when I play and I take a lot of pride in work that I do. When I can’t or don’t do that, yeah, I have disappointment in myself for not being there for my guys.”

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Sale thought the team’s 1976 collared throwback jerseys were “uncomfortable and unorthodox,” and he told MLB.com he thought the team was giving “PR and jersey sales” more importance than winning because he thought the jerseys might alter his mechanics.

“Do I regret standing up for what I believe in? Absolutely not. Do I regret saying business should not be first before winning? Absolutely not.”

Sale will return from his suspension on Thursday to start against the Chicago Cubs, presuming he is not traded by then, as he has been subject of several trade rumors ahead of MLB’s Aug. 1 trade deadline.

The White Sox have a 49–50 record and are in third place in the AL Central.