White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has finally broken his silence.
Following the team’s benches-clearing brawl in Cleveland, Anderson took to Twitter late Sunday and unleashed a series of tweets. Though no exact context was given, one can infer that he’s talking about the incident and the reactions that ensued.
Note that the most recent tweets appear first in the screenshotted thread below.
WARNING: Explicit Language
The incident in question occurred during the sixth inning of Saturday night’s White Sox-Guardians game. By the looks of it, Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez didn’t seem to be pleased with how Anderson tagged him after hitting an RBI double. The two exchanged words and Ramirez can be seen pointing in Anderson’s face. Things escalated very quickly as the two squared up and traded several blows. Though Anderson landed the first few, Ramirez responded by knocking TA to the ground.
Both teams and their respective bullpens rushed out and were involved in one of the longest melees you’ll see nowadays. After the initial wave of fighting seemed to die down, several other rounds soon followed. White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was even seen getting into it with Cleveland third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh amidst the chaos.
When all was said and done, a lengthy meeting between umpires led to the ejections of Ramirez, Anderson, and Cleveland reliever Emmanuel Clase, both managers and third base coach Sarbaugh.
After the game, Jose Ramirez spoke with the media through the team’s translator and provided his reaction.
“I think he’s been disrespecting the game for a while. I even had the chance to tell him [earlier] during the game, ‘Don’t do this stuff. That’s disrespectful. Don’t start tagging people like that because, in reality, we’re here trying to find ways to provide for our families.’ And when he does things he does on the bases, he can get somebody out of the game.
“I was telling him to stop doing that, and then as soon as that play happened, he tagged me again really hard, more than needed. And then he had the reaction, he said I want to fight, and if you want to fight, I have to defend myself.”
– Cleveland Guardians infielder Jose Ramirez
Guardians manager Terry Francona also had this to say on the matter.
“I think [Grifol] was more yelling at me, and then I kind of yelled back. I think I got ejected because of what I did [Friday] night. … When you’re my age, you’re just trying to help. I didn’t appreciate the fact that I thought Anderson, once he had 11-12 guys between them, that’s when he started [yelling]. And then I said something to him. That’s probably what their manager was yelling around. But it’s hard to let somebody speak to you like that and not say anything. That’s emotions.”
– Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona
In the White Sox clubhouse, Pedro Grifol was asked for his comments but declined to say much.
“I’m not going to comment on it. I’m going to let MLB figure it out, do their investigation and watch the video. They have some work to do.”
– White Sox manager Pedro Grifol
Major League Baseball has not yet released a statement on the matter but is expected to hand down fines and/or suspensions for those who played key roles. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates as we get them.
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Featured Photo: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
What an absolute clown. 47 years I’ve been going to Sox games and I can’t remember a single other Sox player that was as much of a disgraceful punk as this guy.