After seeing his suspension reduced from six games to five games, Tim Anderson released a statement on Instagram regarding his suspension, as well as the fight with Jose Ramirez that started it all.
As it was posted as an Instagram Story, the post is no longer up. However, it said the following:
“I want to apologize to the entire Whtie Sox organization, my teammates, manager and coaches and to the fans for my part in the altercation which took place in Cleveland. This has been an incredibly disappointing season for me personally and for our team. I will not get into the things that were said to me by Cleveland players both Friday night and Saturday, but those comments do not excuse my language or conduct, and I take full responsibility for my emotions getting the better of me. The Cleveland players are free to say whatever they want, but I will just say that no one has more respect for the game of baseball than me. I look forward to returning after serving my suspension and finshing the season playing the best baseball I can to help my team.”
– Tim Anderson (via Instagram)
Much of what Anderson is referring to is Austin Hedgers and Jose Ramirez’s comments almost immediately after the fight, in which they both echoed similar sentiments: Anderson had it coming and hasn’t respected the game, at least in their eyes.
Ramirez would later go and walk back his comments a bit, saying he had tried to reach out to Anderson to no avail.
Much of this may actually date back to an earlier game in that Cleveland series, in which Tim Anderson pushed Cleveland’s Brayan Rocchio’s hand off the bag after a double. The replay review overturned the call, saying Anderson didn’t push his hand off the bag; rather, it came off in the act of sliding by Rocchio. Safe to say, Guardians’ players were not happy about this – though this play alone likely wasn’t enough to set off the brawl.
As for why that tag is important: in looking at the play that started the brawl, by the looks of it, Ramirez didn’t seem to be pleased with how Anderson tagged him, and the two began exchanging words. Ramirez can be seen pointing in Anderson’s face, and then the two squared up and exchanged several blows. Though Anderson landed the first few, Ramirez responded by knocking TA to the ground.
Both teams and their respective bullpens were involved in the pushing, shoving, and exchanging of heated words. After the initial wave of fighting seemed to die down momentarily, round two shortly ensued.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was seen getting into it with Cleveland third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh amidst the chaos.
While the reaction to the brawl has been mixed from fans and players alike, one thing is for sure: hopefully, with this comment, Tim Anderson can begin to put the incident behind him and serve his suspension, which will begin tonight in Colorado.
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Featured Photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
