‘I’m not looking for friendship’
Anderson ready to move on from Donaldson’s attempt to provoke him
Tim Anderson heard the boos and chants of “Jackie” from the crowd Sunday night at Yankee Stadium.
“That didn’t do nothing but motivate me a little bit more,” the Chicago White Sox shortstop said before Tuesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Anderson silenced the crowd in the eighth inning, hitting a threerun homer in a 5-0 victory against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of a doubleheader.
“It was pretty dope, you know?” Anderson said. “For me to shut them up, I think you guys saw the reaction. And it was a great moment for sure.”
The moment came a day after a bench-clearing incident involving the teams stemming from comments Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson made to Anderson. Donaldson admitted he called Anderson “Jackie” early in Saturday’s game, which led to a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for what Major League Baseball called “inappropriate comments.”
“It’s out of my control, so I guess I’m cool with whatever,” Anderson said when asked about Donaldson’s suspension.
Donaldson is appealing the punishment. He told New York reporters Saturday that the “Jackie” remark was a joke going back to a 2019 Sports Illustrated story in which Anderson said he felt like “today’s Jackie Robinson” in terms of trying to make the game more fun. Donaldson also said he made the same reference as a member of the Atlanta Braves when they played the Sox on Aug. 30-Sept. 1 of that season.
“He did say that,” Anderson said. “I told him that, ‘We don’t ever have to talk again. And I won’t speak to you, you won’t speak to me if that’s how you’re going to refer to me.’ And I know he knew exactly what he was doing. Because I already told him.
“He goes to Minnesota, two years, doesn’t say nothing to me because I already addressed it. And we get into it (May 13 at Guaranteed Rate Field) with me sliding back (into third base), so I push him off me. And he felt the need to say it again, but you know, he’s trying to provoke me. And he knew what he was doing.”
Anderson said the Yankees have not reached out.
“I can definitely move on,” he said. “But I’m not looking for friendship, no relationship from that behalf. But I’m going to continue to keep playing hard and keep being a great teammate and keep being the best version of myself I can be.”
Anderson led the American League with a .359 average entering Tuesday.
“If you’re looking for the latest example of how special he is, just look at (Sunday),” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “If that’s the first time you’ve been able to see how special he is, then you haven’t been paying attention.
“He is a credit to Major League Baseball. He’s exactly what our fans need to see as far as what a person he is and his dedication to winning.
I was around here long enough to slightly get to know Michael Jordan — he’s got that Michael Jordan desire for his team to compete and play for a championship.
“(Former manager) Gene Mauch once said it, when your best players have that kind of motivation, man, it’s a huge advantage. This guy is really special at everything he does.”
Anderson appreciated the support from the White Sox organization.
“It’s been nothing but love from my teammates, from the coaching staff, from the organization,” he said. “I can say that things got handled the right way and I feel the support, I feel the love and I appreciate that for sure.
“Hopefully we can keep the good energy going and try to stay positive and be great teammates and most importantly have fun.”
General manager Rick Hahn said he was “proud of the way that teammates coalesced around TA this weekend, the support that was shown, both on the field and in the clubhouse.”
“Everyone inside of that clubhouse knew how he felt, and he knew everyone had his back,” Hahn said. “And then he went out on the biggest stage we had that weekend and showed the world precisely who he is, which I thought was awesome.”
Anderson also heard positive words from people around the game. That list includes Yankees star Aaron Judge, who on Monday told New York reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, “Anderson’s one of the best shortstops in the game and he’s a big part of MLB, what’s going on here and how we can grow the game.”
“All the love and all the support,” Anderson said. “I can’t name it one by one, but I’ve seen it and I definitely appreciate it.”