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Sports

Josh Donaldson gets a 1-game suspension for ‘inappropriate comments’ to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson

NEW YORK — New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson received a one-game suspension and undisclosed fine Monday for what Major League Baseball described as “inappropriate comments” made to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium.“There is no dispute over what was said on the field,” Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said in a statement. “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.Advertisement“In addition, Mr. Donaldson’s remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams and warrants discipline.”Donaldson has elected to appeal.AdvertisementDonaldson was running between second and third base after Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s flyout to right ended the third inning when Anderson said Donaldson “made a disrespectful comment.”“Basically tried to call me Jackie Robinson: ‘What’s up, Jackie?’” Anderson said Saturday. “He made the comment and it was disrespectful and I don’t think it was called for. It was unnecessary.”Donaldson and Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal exchanged words before Donaldson’s fifth-inning at-bat, and the benches cleared.Donaldson admitted after the game, “I called him Jackie,” later adding: “I thought that was a joke between him and I because we have talked about it before. … He’s called himself Jackie Robinson. That’s why I thought it was funny between us.”Donaldson referred to a 2019 Sports Illustrated article that came out soon after Anderson’s bat flip against the Kansas City Royals and subsequent plunking made news.The article discussed a “have-fun barrier.”“I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson,” Anderson said in the article. “That’s huge to say. But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I’m getting to a point to where I need to change the game.”Anderson expanded later, telling reporters on May 1, 2019: “Just more so on the side of I’m trying to have fun — and they don’t want me to have fun. So I think it’s cool when you bring excitement to the game and you bring something different. I think I bring something different to the game, and that’s a lot of energy and a lot of excitement.”AdvertisementDonaldson added on Saturday: “My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter. It was just off of an interview. … Just trying to defuse it, make light like, ‘Hey, we’re not trying to start any brawls or anything like that.’ Obviously he deemed that it was disrespectful and if he did, I apologize. That’s not what I was trying to do by any manner.”Sox closer Liam Hendriks on Sunday said Donaldson’s explanation was “complete bull(bleep).”Saturday’s bench-clearing incident was the second between the teams this season.On May 13 at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox loaded the bases with one out in the first. Gavin Sheets struck out and Yankees catcher Jose Trevino threw to third to try to get Anderson.Anderson made it safely by diving, but Donaldson, playing third, tried to nudge him off the base. The benches and dugouts briefly cleared.

Business

Willis Tower's $500 million makeover

ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 17Catalog, a newly renovated multi-level retail and amenity space inside Willis Tower on May 19, 2022 (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) The 5-year,…

Sports

NHL and St. Louis police are investigating racist threats on social media against Colorado Avalanche’s Nazem Kadri

The NHL said Monday that St. Louis police are investigating threats made toward Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, who has been the subject of racist social media posts since he was involved in a collision that knocked Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington out for the rest of the series.Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press by email that the league and police looking into the situation.Advertisement“We take threats made to any of our players or other club personnel seriously,” Daly said. “We are in touch with St. Louis Police Department and they are employing enhanced security procedures both at the arena and in the hotel.”The team said Sunday night it was aware of threats against Kadri and was working with local law enforcement to investigate. Kadri collided with Binnington during Game 3 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night; Kadri said a Blues player threw a water bottle at him during a postgame interview.AdvertisementThe AP verified the existence of Twitter posts sent to the official Avalanche team account and to Kadri’s calling him “Arab scum” and referencing terrorism. Other posts, some of which have since been deleted, included death threats. One was still up hours before Game 4 in St. Louis, with Colorado leading the best-of-seven series 2-1.Avalanche center Nazem Kadri plays against the Predators during the first period in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series on May 9, 2022. (Mark Humphrey/AP)It was not clear if the social media posts were the subject of league, team or police investigation or if there were other threats made toward Kadri, who is of Lebanese descent.After Colorado’s morning skate in St. Louis, coach Jared Bednar called the threats “unnecessary.” Captain Gabriel Landeskog added that they were sad and a function of being in the public eye.“Unfortunately people think they have the freedom to say and do whatever they want,” Landeskog said. “But we always have security and this is no different.”Blues winger David Perron called it unfortunate.“We don’t want that to happen, obviously,” Perron said. “Hopefully it’s been taken care of. I’ll just leave it at that. You don’t want to see that happen to anybody for any reason.”Former NHL player Akim Aliu told The AP by text message he has been in constant communication with Kadri and added, “All we can really do is support him morally.”“Naz has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in,” tweeted Aliu, who is Nigerian-Canadian. “Racist attacks like this have no place in hockey and should be investigated and reported on.”AdvertisementTalked to @43_kadri About his inadvertent collision w Binnington. Naz has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in. Racist attacks like this have no place in hockey and should be investigated and reported on.— Akim Aliu (@Dreamer_Aliu78) May 22, 2022

Aliu and Kadri are members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which works toward eradicating systemic racism and intolerance in hockey, and help in making the sport more accessible to minorities and underprivileged youth.The NHL has several layers of security in place, including club personnel and additional services provided by the home team that are in constant communication with the league’s security department. That department activates in situations such as this one and can work with federal and local law enforcement, when necessary.The league, with input from the NHL Players’ Association established a confidential hotline to which players can report harassment, discrimination or other serious misconduct. It’s operated by a third party, with the ability to make reports by phone, email or online anonymously or with attribution.

Sports

Column: All eyes are on MLB’s investigation into — and ruling on — the Josh Donaldson-Tim Anderson incident

Modern baseball is boring.That was Tim Anderson’s feeling in the spring of 2019 when the Chicago White Sox shortstop spoke to Sports Illustrated for a lengthy profile.AdvertisementAnderson told SI writer Stephanie Apstein he felt like “today’s Jackie Robinson” in crossing what he called the “have-fun barrier,” hoping to make the game interesting to today’s fans.“That’s huge to say,” he said of the Robinson reference. “But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game and I feel like I’m getting to a point where I need to change the game.”AdvertisementThe quote was a small part of a long-form article on Anderson’s emergence as a star. It came out on May 6, 2019, when the Sox still were rebuilding and the 25-year-old was beginning to make a name for himself in a season he later would win the American League batting title.Three years later, MLB is investigating an incident from Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium in which New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson called Anderson “Jackie” multiple times, precipitating a clearing of both teams’ benches and a war of words after the game.[ [Don’t miss] 3 takeaways from the Chicago White Sox-New York Yankees series, including Tim Anderson silencing the crowd and Michael Kopech’s ‘dad strength’ ]On paper, it appears to be a cut-and-dried case, with only the punishment to be determined.Donaldson surely is guilty. But of what, exactly? And what’s the penalty for instigating during a major-league game?Donaldson admitted to calling Anderson “Jackie,” explaining it was in reference to the 2019 SI interview. Donaldson’s defense was that he called Anderson “Jackie” during a previous series when he was with the Atlanta Braves, calling it an “inside joke.”Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson and White Sox baserunner Tim Anderson share words at third base in the first inning of a game at Guaranteed Rate Field on May 13, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)That series took place Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2019 — about four months after the SI article appeared. The Braves swept the Sox, who already were out of contention. There were no reported flare-ups and Donaldson signed with the Minnesota Twins after the season.Anderson didn’t speak to the media Sunday in New York and hasn’t been asked whether he recalled the “inside joke” Donaldson said they share. Anderson is expected to address the media before Tuesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.Donaldson also did not speak to the media Sunday. Yankees manager Aaron Boone gently suggested the remark was inappropriate, saying that mentioning Robinson’s name to Anderson “is just somewhere, in my opinion, he should not be going.” Boone said it was a “sensitive” issue and “you’ve got to read the room.”AdvertisementAfter hearing Donaldson’s explanation, Boone said: “I sit here, as a white guy, that did change the context for me. But I also understand how it can be offensive or upsetting.”[ [Don’t miss] Column: A teachable moment — and the true meaning of Jackie Robinson’s legacy to Black baseball players ]Sox closer Liam Hendriks, who admittedly dislikes Donaldson from their days as Toronto Blue Jays teammates, called the inside joke defense “utter bull(bleep),” saying you don’t joke around with someone with whom you “don’t get along at all.”Was it a “racist” comment, as Sox manager Tony La Russa alleged? Or just a poor choice of words that had no “malicious intent,” as Boone believed?That’s what MLB must determine.MLB has dealt with racial and ethnic slurs in the past. Former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended one year and fined $25,000 in 1993 for “racially and ethnically offensive language” for making anti-Black and anti-Jewish slurs.MLB’s decision on Donaldson, however, could have an effect on what is acceptable language in the game, even if it’s not an overt slur. If Donaldson gets off lightly, it would suggest MLB believed his intent was not malicious. If Donaldson is suspended, it would send the message MLB won’t tolerate language that others can interpret as racist.AdvertisementTim Anderson reacts towards the crowd while running the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Yankees relief pitcher Miguel Castro in the eighth inning on May 22, 2022. (John Minchillo / AP)Anderson was involved in a similar incident in 2019 over a remark he made during a brawl to a Kansas City Royals pitcher. Anderson received a one-game suspension from MLB for “conduct” stemming from the undisclosed remark to Mitch Keller, who received a five-game suspension for throwing at Anderson in apparent retaliation for an epic bat flip following a home run.In the 2019 SI article, Anderson admitted he called Keller a “weak-ass (bleeping N-word).” He said he did not regret calling Keller, who is white, the N-word.“That’s a word in my vocabulary,” Anderson said. “When’s the last time (then-MLB disciplinarian Joe Torre) heard that word?”Michael Hill, a former Miami Marlins executive, currently holds the job of MLB disciplinarian. Anderson received a one-game suspension and fine from MLB on April 22 for making an obscene gesture toward fans during a game in Cleveland. But he appealed and won, receiving only an undisclosed fine. Now Donaldson faces the music for allegedly disrespecting Anderson.Anderson is the face of the Sox organization and the undisputed leader of the clubhouse. He leads the AL again with a .359 average and finally is getting his due from the national media.What’s more, Anderson seems to thrive on being in the spotlight, as evidenced by his walk-off home run in last season’s Field of Dreams game and his three-run blast Sunday night after being booed all night and called “Jackie” by Yankees fans.AdvertisementModern baseball may be boring.But you can’t say the same about the White Sox.