It all started with a direct quote: “”I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson. That’s huge to say. But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I’m getting to a point to where I need to change the game.”
This bit of gross exaggeration came from Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during a 2019 Sports Illustrated interview for an article on the way he plays baseball. Because you have likely never heard of him, Anderson is one of the poster boys for the “new way to play the game”, where batters celebrate all of their home runs by staring at the ball’s flight to admire their work, flipping their bat in an exaggerated way, or pumping up the crowd and their teammates by yelling or waving their arms while rounding the bases. While popular with those that consume their baseball through Tik Tok or Instagram highlight clips, Anderson’s antics (and those of a growing number of young players) don’t sit well with traditional baseball fans–and certainly not with many other players.
I remember reading about Anderson comparing himself to the civil rights pioneer in 2019. But I have to admit that it faded from my memory since then. A lot of stuff has gone on since then that has occupied all of our time. But baseball players have long memories. And one of those players is New York Yankees 3rd baseman Josh Donaldson. Since that interview was printed in SI, Donaldson has called Anderson “Jackie” every time he has played against the White Sox. If you have never been around professional athletes, this kind of teasing and ribbing goes on constantly.
But last week, Anderson and his White Sox teammates decided they had had enough. When Donaldson came to the plate for an at-bat, Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal told him to knock it off. Donaldson objected and the two got into a heated discussion that resulted in the benches clearing. While announcers were left guessing as to what could have caused the fracas, post-game interviews provided the answer: Josh Donaldson’s teasing is racist.
To add further irony to this whole thing was White Sox Manager Tony LaRussa leading the charge of racism when for decades it was his former team, the St Louis Cardinals, who held themselves up as the franchise that “plays the game the right way”–often objecting to the behavior of black players like Prince Fielder, Nyjer Morgan, and Rickie Weeks on the Milwaukee Brewers for their home run and game-winning antics. Check out the numbers for Brewers players hit by pitches during games against the Cardinals.
Because Major League Baseball has a reputation to uphold, Donaldson has been suspended for one game, and has likely been told it will be more than that if he calls Tim Anderson “Jackie Robinson” any more. That one game is the same suspension that Anderson himself received in 2019 (before the Sports Illustrated article) for language he used toward Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller who hit him with a pitch one at bat after Anderson chucked his bat about 50-feet in the air following a home run against Keller. To use another direct quote from Anderson: ““I called him a weak-ass f—— n—–. That’s what I said.”
Anderson cried racism at his suspension at that time, claiming MLB put him on the bench because he used the “N word”–which he argued he has every right to say as a Black man. Oh by the way, Brad Keller is white.
So here is what I propose his opponents do on plays involving Tim Anderson from now on: When he fails to reach base (as he does in about 65% of his plate appearances) the pitcher should stare him down as he heads back to the dugout. Or the catcher should toss his glove into the air after Anderson swings and misses at strike three. Or runners should yell and wave their arms after they reach on another of Anderson’s league-leading errors at shortstop. If that is the way Tim Anderson thinks the game should be played, then let’s have everyone play it that way on every play. I’m guessing he’ll tire of that faster than he got tired of being called “Jackie Robinson”.
