NEW YORK – It took Major League Baseball less than 48 hours to hand down punishment for Josh Donaldson after making comments towards Tim Anderson that they viewed as “disrespectful and in poor judgment.”
On Monday, the league suspended the Yankees’ third baseman for one game along with giving him an undisclosed fine after he made what the White Sox shortstop & his team considered to be a racist comment at the end of the third inning.
“He just made a, you know, disrespectful comment,” said Anderson to the Associated Press on Saturday. “Basically, it was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. Like, ‘What’s up, Jackie?’”
After that was made, Anderson and Donaldson had a brief argument on the field before players returned to their dugouts. In the fifth inning, when the New York third baseman stepped up to the plate for another at-bat, he was confronted by White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal about the comment.
That caused the benches to clear, including the bullpens, but no punches were thrown and warnings were issued to both teams. After Anderson’s postgame comments, MLB began their investigation into the incident, which was concluded on Monday.
“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,” said MLB Senior Vice President for On-Field Operations Michael Hill in a statement from the league. “In addition, Mr. Donaldson’s remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams, and warrants discipline.”
Donaldson is planning to appeal the punishment from the MLB, though Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that the third baseman is headed to the COVID-19 IL.
