Levine: Ventura Takes High Road In Sale Incident

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The rhetoric that followed White Sox left-hander Chris Sale tearing up the team's throwback 1976 uniforms in a fit of rage Saturday took a turn on Monday.

Sale told MLB.com that manager Robin Ventura needed to do a better job of protecting the players from marketing and sales promotions that disrupt their routines. In that interview, Sale took responsibility for his actions but also threw Ventura under the bus.

On Tuesday, Ventura refused to get into a war of words through the media.

"You know what, all that stuff I am going to leave it at that," Ventura said. "Everything that goes on in (the clubhouse), I am going to leave it in there.

"I do know he is coming back to pitch on Thursday. Really for what happened by the conduct, we acted appropriately."

Ventura has had to discipline Sale on other occasions when the pitcher's emotions have gotten the better of him. This past Saturday's incident was at least the third time Sale was sent home for insubordination in his White Sox career. Each time, Ventura has covered for Sale and not talked about it outside clubhouse quarters.

For Sale not to understand that the Xfinity promotion of throwback uniforms was a revenue- and fan-related promotion with the White Sox's advertising partner seems naive. From his perspective of the matter, Sale told the club that he wouldn't wear the uniforms when the team was fitted for them in March.

"Everything that happened in there, I am just going to keep it in there." Ventura said. "We had to act. (The behavior) was over the line."

The business side of promotions seem to have been lost on the otherwise savvy Sale.

"There are a lot of people who work hard on those things," Ventura said. "That is their job. They create a night -- a promotional night -- to help get people in the stands and to make money. That is their job. This is just not about our team. It's every team in baseball. They may not be naive about this, but they might not see what other people are doing on the other side of the hall."

Sale will pitch for just the second time since July 8 on Thursday when he faces the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.