Chicago White Sox: Tim Anderson suspended following scuffle
The news of Major League Baseball suspending Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson comes as s surprise.
By now, Chicago White Sox fans are intimately familiar with the details of the Tim Anderson incident. Earlier this week, Anderson launched a two-run moonshot in the fourth inning off of Brad Keller. Anderson spent a moment admiring his blast, throwing his bat towards his own dugout in an effort to fire up his team.
Keller took exception with Anderson’s actions and plunked him with a pitch to lead off the sixth inning. Anderson did not charge the mound, though tempers flared and benches cleared. While Anderson was visibly upset with getting hit and was clearly jawing with the Royals, he did not charge at or put his hands on an opponent.
Despite these facts, Anderson was still ejected from the game by perpetual sour-puss, Joe West. The White Sox went on to lose that game in extra innings.
Nothing Anderson did in response to getting hit appeared to warrant an ejection. Fans and media personnel alike took to social media to express their displeasure and confusion with the ejection — and for good reason.
When MLB investigated the benches-clearing incident between the White Sox and Royals, umpires and players from both teams said Tim Anderson used a racially charged word, sources tell ESPN. Anderson received a one-game suspension from the incident, per sources.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 19, 2019
Despite how absurd the in-game ejection was perceived as being at the time, it was thought that would be the end of the situation. However, it was not. Instead, Major League Baseball determined that an additional one-game suspension was in order.
And as details emerge as to the reason for the suspension, it starts to shed light on why Anderson was likely tossed from Wednesday’s game. Following MLB’s investigation, umpires, as well as players from both teams, confirmed that Anderson used a “racially charged word” during the incident.
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There has been no update at this time as to what specifically was said, but it was severe enough to warrant an additional suspension, so it was likely the impetus behind getting ejected. And now the White Sox will have to be without his services — which so far this year have been great — for another game. The whole incident was unfortunate, and hopefully, for the Sox, they can now begin to put the whole thing behind them. We shall see.