After such a tumultuous night at Fenway Monday night, Chris Sale helped ease the tensions. Soo we thought. As Adam Jones stepped to the plate last night Chris Sale showed respect for the situation. Sale, normally an extremely fast worker pitcher, stepped off the mound for the longest pause of his career. He did so because of certain Boston fans disrespectful and racial prejudice towards Jones the night before. The fans greeted Jones with a standing ovation that lasted nearly thirty seconds. It was a great sight to see for all.
Although it doesn’t by any means erase what happened, Boston reacted in a classy receptive manner to a disastrous situation caused by a few fans. Sale did exactly the right thing and deviated from his normal return. Jones struck out and the game continued. Jones after the game was receptive to his treatment saying he was shocked as he never received a standing ovation on the road before. All was well, so it seemed.
Then the gritty slugger Manny Machado stepped to the plate Machado, known as a hothead by many, always seems to be in the middle of some sort of brawl. A week or so ago Machado slid somewhat late into Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia missed a few games because of the slide but experts didn’t consider the play dirty. Just the next day, Sunday night, Machado was thrown at near his head by Sox pitcher Matt Barnes. Barnes was suspended four games for the incident which was clearly seen as retaliation.
Manny steps into the box, Sale delivers a pitch low and well behind Machado! A clear attempt to throw at him. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to realize this when someone throws behind a batter that his means war. Immediately warnings are thrown out by the umpire, understanding the situation. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?! One second Sale is paying homage to Adma Jones respecting the situation. Then the other he is throwing at a player unnecessarily from a situation that was thought to be over. I was speechless.
Here’s my take, I think Sale rightfully so, saw the Jones dilemma as bigger than baseball, which it was. Racism is intolerable and he wanted to give the fans a chance to show that they were behind him. That not all Bostonians are Massholes and racists. Well, they may be Massholes, but they’re certainly not all racists. The fans rose to the challenge all in all. Good shit Sale.
But then, oh boy oh boy! Sale ya done fucked up this time. You have no business throwing at Machado and endangering his career and life. It is a part of baseball but Barnes already retaliated! What the fuck dude. It’s almost as if he just blacked out for the part of Barnes hitting him and woke up for the Jones situation. This is so strange and peculiar right after he showed respect for Jones. My only explanation is that he figured this was a team to team thing and he just wanted to fucking nail Machado. Sale is new to the team and he said “fuck it” let me get a piece of this. Let’s throw a little salt and pepper on this situation and fuck everything up. That’s a bold move cotton. Also, not the right one, but one thing we know is that Chris Sale gives ZERO fucks, so watch out baseball. And that my friends is the quandary of Chis Sale.
