Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson has received a one-game suspension and been fined an undisclosed amount for “inappropriate” comments made to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson on Saturday, MLB announced Monday.
Donaldson, who was also placed on the COVID-19 injured list on Monday, is appealing the suspension.
Donaldson also was fined an undisclosed amount for his actions Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
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.
White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz didn’t think the penalty was enough.
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.
The White Sox are not scheduled to play the Yankees again this season.
