Tim Anderson refutes Josh Donaldson's 'joke' claim
Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson looks for his pitch during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees in Game Two of an MLB doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was never an inside joke, Tim Anderson said.
Days after Josh Donaldson referred to the White Sox shortstop as “Jackie” – a remark White Sox manager Tony La Russa called racist – Anderson said that contrary to Donaldson’s claims, the two never joked like that in the past.
Donaldson is appealing a one-game suspension meted out by MLB, the result of him twice saying, “What’s up, Jackie?” to Anderson during Saturday’s game, eventually leading to a bench-clearing melee. Baseball did not call the comment racist when it passed down its punishment, instead deeming Donaldson’s comments “disrespectful” and in “poor judgment.”
After that game, Donaldson, who is currently on the COVID-19 injured list, said he had called Anderson “Jackie” multiple times before, in reference to a 2019 Sports Illustrated article where Anderson called himself “today’s Jackie Robinson,” in that he hoped to change the sport. Donaldson added that it was an old joke between them, and bringing it back was an attempt to defuse a tense situation, since the two were coming off an on-field confrontation earlier in the month.
Tuesday, Anderson told reporters that Donaldson had indeed called him Jackie before, but it was just once in 2019, and Anderson shut it down.
"I told him, 'We never have to talk again,'" Anderson told reporters. "'I won't speak to you, you won't speak to me if that's how you're going to refer to me.' I knew he knew exactly what he was doing."
“I can definitely move on but I’m not looking for a friendship or relationship from that.”
“He was trying to provoke me,” Anderson said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, before the White Sox faced Boston. “But he knew what he was doing.”
Commenting on Donaldson’s actions Monday, a measured Aaron Judge said “joke or not, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do there.” He added that Donaldson did own up to the mistake and the team was ready to move on. Aaron Boone agreed that Donaldson never should have gone there in his interactions with Anderson but did not believe Donaldson intended to be racist.
It’s notable, too, that many of the Yankees are men of color, including leaders like Judge, who is biracial, and Giancarlo Stanton, who is of Black, Puerto Rican and Irish descent. Tuesday, Boone said he didn’t believe this will be a source of ongoing tension, adding that Donaldson addressed his teammates before going on the COVID-19 injured list Monday.
“I feel like we’re equipped to handle this and will absolutely handle this as a team and I don’t think it’ll linger,” Boone said. “The story may linger and that’s not necessarily something that’s in our control, but I’m confident that the closeness in the room will allow us to deal with this.”
He also said he didn’t believe Donaldson, whose career is checkered with tense interactions with other players and umpires, is simply destined to rub people the wrong way.
“I don’t live my life like that,” Boone said. “I think people always change and evolve and hopefully get better. Some people are more provocative than others. Some people are quiet. Some people are outgoing. Everyone’s a little bit different, but to say people can’t evolve and change and grow? No. I’ve never closed the book on any of that with anyone.”
Donaldson hasn’t been in the clubhouse for two days because of his illness, which included a fever overnight, Boone said. (He, like Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka, who also went on the COVID-19 list last week, has not tested positive.)
“We’ve talked,” Boone said. “We’ve obviously talked through this situation and had conversations with players and we’ll continue to have those conversations. I’m not going to get into specifics of what we’ve talked about necessarily but anytime issues come up or situations come up, (we) try to run to them and try to get better from them...Going through difficult things, not only as that person and player, but also as a team, can create conversations that allow us to grow tighter and that’s what we’ll hope through this.”
Asked if Donaldson had learned from the experience, Boone declined to put words in his player’s mouth, but did say the last few days likely have had an effect.
“I’m sure he’s been through a lot in the last couple days and obviously, he’s been away from us yesterday and today, so I haven’t been around him, but obviously this has been a big story, so I’m sure he’s reflecting a lot on it,” Boone said. “We’ve had conversations with him and players and stuff, so, I don’t necessarily want to speak for him in that, but I’m sure it’s been an impactful time for him.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
