but that all changed last weekend when Josh Donaldson, a white third baseman for the New York Yankees, called Tim Anderson, a Black shortstop for the White Sox, “Jackie.” Anderson’s teammates overheard the racist remark and the catcher for the White Sox, Yasmani Grandal, “confronted Donaldson in the batter’s box” during a latter inning, and the ensuing “exchange led to the benches clearing.” Donaldson admitted to calling Anderson “Jackie” as a direct reference to Jackie Robinson, explaining that “his quip was…an inside joke between him and Anderson that dated back to 2019, when Anderson invoked Robinson’s name as part of an interview he did with Sports Illustrated;” however, Anderson rejected that notion about being “in on the joke…telling reporters that he had told Donaldson to leave him alone if that’s how he intended to refer to him.”Speaking with ESPN afterward, Anderson said, “He did say that, and I told him we never have to talk again…I don’t speak to you, you don’t speak to me, if that’s how you want to refer to me. I know, he knew exactly what he was doing because I already told him.”In trying to defend himself, Donaldson stated, “[m]y meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fat of the matter…Obviously, he deemed it disrespectful.
