05/23/22 03:51:00
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05/23 15:49 CDT MLB suspends Donaldson for 1 game for 'Jackie' comment
MLB suspends Donaldson for 1 game for 'Jackie' comment
NEW YORK (AP) --- 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.
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 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.
"My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the
matter," Donaldson said Saturday.
Anderson and Donaldson did not speak with the media on Sunday, when the White
Sox swept a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
Anderson started the second game and was booed by fans, with some chanting
"Jackie" at him. He hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 5-0 win and
then put his finger to his lips in a hushing gesture as he rounded the bases.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he talked to Donaldson after Saturday's game
and believed his player's explanation for why he made the "Jackie" remark ---
but he also said he thought Donaldson shouldn't have used the term.
"I think with what's going on between the two players and between the two teams
over the last week or two, I certainly understand how that would be sensitive
and understand the reaction," Boone said. "I also understand Josh has been very
forthcoming with the history of it and the context of it. So I don't believe
there was any malicious intent in that regard."
"But this is just my opinion --- (that's) somewhere he should not be going," he
said.
Donaldson had clashed with the White Sox on multiple occasions before this
weekend.
The benches also emptied on May 13 after Anderson shoved Donaldson following a
hard tag in Chicago.
White Sox ace Lucas Giolito used an expletive in calling Donaldson a "pest"
last year after Donaldson appeared to yell "Not sticky anymore!" after a
first-inning homer for Minnesota --- a reference to MLB cracking down on
pitchers using sticky substances on baseballs.
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