Monday 23 May 2022 10:10 PM Yankees' Josh Donaldson gets one-game suspension for Jackie Robinson reference ... trends now
Major League Baseball has issued a one-game suspension to New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson over his allegedly racist Jackie Robinson reference to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during Saturday's game.
Donaldson said he twice called Anderson by 'Jackie' - as in Robinson, who famously broke MLB's color barrier in 1947 - during the Yankees' 7-5 win on Saturday. The benches and bullpens emptied as tensions escalated.
Anderson, one of baseball's leading Black voices and an All-Star shortstop, said it was a 'disrespectful comment.' White Sox manager Tony La Russa said it was racist, and Anderson agreed.
'Basically, it was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. Like, ''What's up, Jackie?''' Anderson said after Saturday's game.
Donaldson, who is white, said he had used the 'Jackie' reference in the past with Anderson, who had said he viewed himself as a potential modern-day Robinson in a 2019 interview with Sports Illustrated.
'My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter,' Donaldson said Saturday.
'Obviously, he deemed it disrespectful,' Donaldson said. 'And look, if he did, I apologize. That's not what I was trying to do by any manner and that's what happened.'
The punishment was announced by Michael Hill, the senior vice president of on-field operations for MLB.
'MLB has completed the process of speaking to the individuals involved in this incident. There is no dispute over what was said on the field. Regardless of Mr. Donaldson´s intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions,' Hill said in a statement.
'In addition, Mr. Donaldson's remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams, and warrants discipline,' he said.
Major League Baseball has issued a one-game suspension to New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson (left) over his allegedly racist Jackie Robinson reference to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson (right) during Saturday's game
Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson (7) is restrained by teammates after the dugouts emptied in the fifth inning over alleged racist remarks by a Yankees player
Josh Donaldson admitted to making the comment -- but insisted it was in reference to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story when Anderson likened himself to a current-day Jackie Robinson
Anderson and Donaldson did not speak with the media on Sunday, when the White Sox swept a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
The All-Star shortstop started the second game and was booed by fans, with some chanting 'Jackie' at him. He hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 5-0 win and then put his finger to his lips in a hushing gesture as he rounded the bases.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he talked to Donaldson after Saturday's game and believed his player's explanation for why he made the 'Jackie' remark - but he also said he thought Donaldson shouldn´t have used the term.
'I think with what´s going on between the two players and between the two teams over the last week or two, I certainly understand how that would be sensitive and understand the reaction,' Boone said. 'I also understand Josh has been very forthcoming with the history of it and the context of it. So I don´t believe there was any malicious intent in that regard.'
'But this is just my opinion - [that's] somewhere he should not be going,' he said.
Donaldson had clashed with the White Sox on multiple occasions before this weekend.
The benches also emptied on May 13 after Anderson shoved Donaldson following a hard tag in Chicago.
White Sox ace Lucas Giolito used an expletive in calling Donaldson a 'pest' last year after Donaldson appeared to yell 'Not sticky anymore!' after a first-inning homer for Minnesota - a reference to MLB cracking down on pitchers using sticky substances on baseballs.
