White Sox’s Tim Anderson silences Yankees’ fans with game winning home run

If ever there was a good way to silence a disrespectful crowd when you’re on the field of play, the White Sox’s Tim Anderson did it perfectly.

Tim Anderson silences Yankees fans with a homer

With one swing of his bat White Sox short stop Tim Anderson gave the perfect response to a hostile crowd on Sunday and then proceeded to trot around the bases with his head held high. With his three run homer, put an exclamation mark on what has been a weekend of tense exchanges between his team and the New York Yankees. Indeed, as Anderson jogged from plate to plate, he put his finger to his lips to silence fans booing and chanting “Jackie” at him. The home run helped the White Sox to a 5-0 victory over the Yankees thereby completing a doubleheader sweep of their rivals.

The chants and his actions of course come on the back of the chaotic scenes that were witnessed on Saturday, following what was deemed a ‘racist’ joke made towards him by Yankees’ Josh Donaldson who called him ‘Jackie’ - a reference to the legendary Jackie Robinson who became the first African American to play in MLB. Incidentally, the the All-Star shortstop didn’t actually play in the first game, but evidently it didn’t matter as his team took care of business with AJ Pollock hitting a tie-breaking homer off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning, before the White Sox ran out 3-1 winners.

Yankees fans jeered Tim Anderson from the start

On Sunday it was clear from the onset of the evening that the Yankees fan base was not going to behave well. Anderson was ridiculed during pregame introductions and before each and every one of his at-bats. That, however, didn’t seem to have any effect as he had already hit two singles in the game when launched the ball over the right field wall for his play of the match homer in the eighth inning. As he took his intentionally slow lap around the diamond using his finger in a shushing gesture, he clapped several times before finally pointing skyward when he arrived at home plate.

“I think that was just one of the cooler things I’ve seen - watching an entire crowd that’s shown low class towards him, booing him, calling him ‘Jackie’ and then hitting a homer and putting us in a good position to win,’’ White Sox starter Michael Kopech said. “Have nothing but respect for him.” White Sox manager Tony La Russa also weighed in saying, “What a day! ...When you talk about how special he is, just think about the game he had under those circumstances,” La Russa said. “It’s special.” Interestingly, Anderson himself gave no comment to the media neither before nor after the game.

No comment from Josh Donaldson, but Tony La Russa has his say

While there was also no statement given by Donaldson on Sunday, a Yankees representative indicated that to date the player had not had any dialogue with MLB regarding the situation, nor had he had any conversation with Anderson. As things stand it is understood that the league is investigating the incident. It should be said that by all accounts there was no ‘residual effects’ on the night’s proceedings as a result of the bench clearing event that took place on Saturday. Donaldson of course actually admitted to calling Anderson “Jackie” after Saturday’s game when speaking with the media. It was an act that drew criticism from not only La Russa but his own manager as well, Aaron Boone who said that didn’t believe his player meant any harm with the comment, but the use of the term was in fact “somewhere he should not be going.”

Where La Russa is concerned, the White Sox coach made it clear following Saturday’s game that he thought Donaldson’s comment was ‘racist. Speaking about Anderson following Sunday’s game, however, was a different story. “He deserves the recognition and he deserves the respect,” La Russa said of Anderson. “If somebody disrespects him, he should get upset. I know I would.” What a day indeed.