Yankees' Donaldson suspended one game over `Jackie' remarks

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.

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 All-Star 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.

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