Tags
Behavior, Boston Red Sox, Chris Sale, COVID-19, Red Sox, Sox
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale missed almost two years when he underwent Tommy John surgery and had an extended recovery period. He finally returned this August and has a record of 4-0 in the six games he has pitched in the last two months.
Sale, who is one of the Sox all time best pitchers and a clubhouse leader, has also tested positive twice for COVID-19, most recently several weeks ago when he was then quarantined for 10 days. Fifteen Sox players have likewise landed on the COVID-19 injured list.
When Sale first returned, he said, This game was ripped out of my hands. I had a hole in my chest for two years, and, you know, I’ll be completely honest with you: I took days for granted. I’ve been a big-leaguer for 11 years now. And I took moments, I took days, I took weeks, for granted, and through all of this, I guess I’ve had a huge perspective change. I feel like I can tell you one thing — I’m not wasting another day of my big-league career. That’s just not going to happen.
But Chris Sale’s behavior does not match his words.
Friday night he responded to a reporter’s question about whether he’s been vaccinated against COVID, saying, Uh, no, I am not.
Whether or not Sale’s 10-day absence and the absence of others on the team will result in what happens to the Sox playoff hopes (they are in the ‘hunt’ for one of the two wild card spots), that is not what is most important.
Whether or not Sale has been responsible for the spread of COVID on the team, he has clearly put himself ahead of his teammates in his refusal to be vaccinated.
What Sale has done, in my opinion, is selfish.
Words can be true or not.
But Behavior doesn’t lie.
Ron davis said:
Don’t get me started Richard if you don’t want to get vac fine just stay away from me and don’t breathe on me but I’m one not a team trying to get to World Series good luck I’m rooting for you
Ellen Miller said:
No question. There are other words to describe him better, most of them unprintable.
Clare Bolek said:
The follow up question would be, why not? This has been the hardest thing for me to understand not believing in the data that is right in front of you. Almost everything in baseball is about data- and the same can be said about this vaccine. I feel for you in the playoffs.
James Montgomery Kilby said:
The saddest thing about unvaccinated people, who end up in a hospital and die, is that they are all victims, of misinformation, spread by media people and politicians.
Baloni said:
Exactly
Joe Higdon said:
I’m betting that there will be other days he wastes through stupid behavior. I’ve been rooting for the Sox to make it to the playoffs, I think when Sale pitches, I’ll take the day off.
THE DUKE OF BROOKLYN said:
Put this idiot “UP
FOR S A L E!”
You deserve better!
Best part of baseball is:
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!
Forget about him-get rid of him
Anon-2 said:
I think we can let Chris Sale decide what’s best for Chris Sale.
Someone mentioned misinformation. From what I read, he has absolutely no reason to get the jab. Perhaps his docs are more up to date with their information than we are?
He is not at risk. He’s a young, healthy athlete. He has natural immunity, which, according to Fauci, is superior to the vax.
The question is….can he spread it to his team mates?
The answer is….recent studies are showing that he has the exact same odds of spreading it to his team mates as every team member who IS vaccinated. (One study from CDC, one from Lancet, one from Oxford….I have the links…..). THAT is the science.
Maybe he’s being selfish. Maybe he’s thinking of his wife and kids…. He is well familiar with the covid virus, and how it minimally impacted his life (he had COVID, and had a sore throat for a day and lost his sense of smell, and that was it).
Maybe, like many of us, he feels unsure about the safety of the therapeutic injections.Maybe he is concerned about potential long and short term side effects both known and unknown in this novel therapy, for which apparently he would not be compensated in the event his pitching career was impacted. Maybe he chooses to wait for Novavax, a more traditional vaccine. Maybe he feels we don’t yet know enough about the safety of the therapeutic injections, but is well familiar with covid itself.
Maybe he’s choosing to be in the necessary “control group”, without which we can’t know about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
And on a final note…..”a selfish athlete”….is not exactly man bites dog.
Anon-2 said:
And if I may add…..look in the mirror. If Trump was still President, many of you would be comparing Chris Sale to Martin Luther King.
BRIAN STEINBACH said:
Anon. Says it all. Not willing to be identified. Does he know if any of those “excuses” actually apply to him? He’s just being a selfish person, doesn’t care about the rest of his team, apparently – he should be persuading everyone on the team to get the jab. I say the Sox should cut him and find some way not to pay his salary in the future.
Anon-2 said:
Brian……I have an agreement with Richard to remain anonymous…seems those on the left love to de-friend us conservatives.
Apparently, you didn’t read my post. Not one excuse, just science.
Why is Sale being selfish?
BRIAN STEINBACH said:
Anon, I accept the explanation for being anonymous. But I did read your post. And he clearly is being selfish, putting his personal opinions/feels (whether ill informed or not) over the needs of his team/community.
And I believe you were offering possible excuses for Sale.
Funny how the recent spike has declined as more people got vaccinated and returned to masks.
Anon-2 said:
I might ask you to re-read my post. Again….he has natural immunity, which is better than a vax. He has the exact same odds of passing it to a team mate as another team mate who is vaccinated. That’s what the three recent studies show…..Or are we not doing the “science” thing all of the sudden? How on EARTH is that being selfish?
“Funny how the recent spike has declined as more people got vaccinated and returned to masks.” The result of the declines are almost surely due to prior infections, seasonal factors, and yes vaccines.
Masks? Surely you’ve noticed the huge screaming unmasked crowds in football stadiums the last four weeks. The only spikes were are seeing are up north….MN, ID, ME, NH, VT….not one football stadium there….