Donaldson gets 1-game ban for ‘Jackie’ remark
NEW YORK – Major League Baseball suspended Josh Donaldson for one game Monday after the New York Yankees slugger made multiple references to Jackie Robinson while talking to White Sox star Tim Anderson during the weekend.
Donaldson also was fined an undisclosed amount for his actions Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The punishment was announced by Michael Hill, the senior vice president of on-field operations for MLB.
Donaldson has elected to appeal the penalty. Shortly before the suspension was announced, the Yankees said Donaldson had been put on the COVID-19 injured list.
“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.
White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz didn’t think the penalty was enough.
“Just one game. We all saw his malice at third a week ago, then this comment with the ridiculous excuse that followed. What’s the point or message behind a 1 game suspension? This is incredibly disappointing and plain frustrating,” Katz posted on Twitter.
The White Sox had a day off Monday. They are not scheduled to play the Yankees again this season.
AL East-leading New York is scheduled to open a three-game series against Baltimore on Monday night and then head to Tampa Bay for a four-game set beginning on Thursday.
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 AllStar 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.
Ortiz: Life has changed since Hall of Fame vote
NEWTON, Mass. – Newly elected Hall of Famer David Ortiz knows he’s got to enjoy life every day after his shooting in the Dominican Republic nearly three years ago.
“Without a doubt,” he told The Associated Press Monday morning at his charity golf tournament.
“Life continued. You never know what’s next,” he said, walking the grounds toward a golf cart before he headed out to take pictures with players. “You’ve just got to focus on doing well and making sure everyone around you is taken care of.”
In June 2019, Ortiz was ambushed by a man who got off a motorcycle and shot him in the back at close range. Doctors in the Dominican Republic removed Ortiz’s gallbladder and part of his intestine after the shooting and he underwent further surgery in the U.S.
The longtime Red Sox slugger was elected to the Hall on his first ballot by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in January, making 77.9% of the ballots – just over the 75% threshold needed for election.
He said it’s changed his life a lot.
“Well, I was a busy man. Now, I’m extremely busy,” he joked after signing about four dozen baseballs, a few golf bags and a bunch of smaller “stress ball” baseballs.
Wearing a Hall of Fame baseball cap with the logo on the front and Cooperstown on the back, Ortiz estimated that he has signed about 3 million baseballs in his career. But he said the affection that the fans have for him is something that he’ll never take for granted.
“Oh man, it’s something that never gets old,” he said in the interview with the AP. “It’s something that’s great – getting love and giving love back.”