Josh Donaldson has been suspended one game and given a fine by Major League Baseball for inappropriate comments made toward the White Sox' Tim Anderson during Saturday's game.
MLB wrote in a statement that Donaldson's comment "was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions.” Donaldson has appealed the suspension, although he is already sidelined after being placed on the COVID-19 injured list earlier Monday.
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and, as a PSA, i dont care how reasonable your point is - the next time ANYONE uses ‘woke’ in a sentence and comes off sounding intelligent will be the first
You're mn idiot. I just woke up to this fact, but it remains that you are not a smart person even though you pretend to me. A smart person can control their triggers and use logic to discern intent. People who let triggers and moral outrage take over their thinking are the same ones that support summary judgements just as you are here.
Total lack of depth.
You should not be lecturing anyone, sir.
I think that's a given
gents, this isn’t going anywhere. trying to avoid saying things which can be perceived as racially offensive is best to avoid. ive already said that i dont think racial animus is what motivated Donaldson. Stupid fucking thing to say.
Clearly it isn't
amen
gents, this isn’t going anywhere. trying to avoid saying things which can be perceived as racially offensive is best to avoid. ive already said that i dont think racial animus is what motivated Donaldson. Stupid fucking thing to say.
Only a person with an agenda thinks that calling a guy that called himself Jackie Robinson, Jackie, a racist. You have to fight really, really hard to think that.
By your reasoning, if somebody claimed they were the new Babe Ruth(or Mickey Mantle), and somebody else called him Babe or Mickey to deride it, they'd be racist. Think about that a little bit.
Shouldn't Anderson be questioned about why he chose now to call this racist?
Donaldson should sue MLB
In comment 15716780 section125 said:
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It was clearly racist. And Donaldson is an asshole. Sucks to have to root for that POS.
Clearly it isn't
If that's the case then the Jackie Robinson comment had negative connotation and in this day and age easily can become viewed as a racial statement.
MLB has to react to this, not because of the comment but the optics.
Also its 1 game, you can manage that.
If that's the case then the Jackie Robinson comment had negative connotation and in this day and age easily can become viewed as a racial statement.
MLB has to react to this, not because of the comment but the optics.
Also its 1 game, you can manage that.
Nope, totally disagree. In this day, it is a common tactic to try to bully someone by calling them a racist.
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In comment 15716748 wigs in nyc said:
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and, as a PSA, i dont care how reasonable your point is - the next time ANYONE uses ‘woke’ in a sentence and comes off sounding intelligent will be the first
You're mn idiot. I just woke up to this fact, but it remains that you are not a smart person even though you pretend to me. A smart person can control their triggers and use logic to discern intent. People who let triggers and moral outrage take over their thinking are the same ones that support summary judgements just as you are here.
Total lack of depth.
You should not be lecturing anyone, sir.
Lol, okie dokie section....lol.
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calling a member of a minority group a name, in anger, of someone historically famously related to that minority group - for a moment put aside the extra context - if you couldn’t have foreseen how this was gonna go i don’t know what to tell you.
gents, this isn’t going anywhere. trying to avoid saying things which can be perceived as racially offensive is best to avoid. ive already said that i dont think racial animus is what motivated Donaldson. Stupid fucking thing to say.
Only a person with an agenda thinks that calling a guy that called himself Jackie Robinson, Jackie, a racist. You have to fight really, really hard to think that.
By your reasoning, if somebody claimed they were the new Babe Ruth(or Mickey Mantle), and somebody else called him Babe or Mickey to deride it, they'd be racist. Think about that a little bit.
Section, I hear what you’re saying, I really do. There are a few simple truths here: 1) there is absolutely a double standard - and there is a double standard because the history of white people and the history of black people in this country is quite different. So you’re right to say that it’s a double standard. 2) Donaldson was clearly trying to call Anderson a name to break his balls - it was not intended as a compliment, right? You and I both agree that Donaldson has no dislike for Anderson due to his skin color, but in so many of these things, and unfortunately, 3) intention rarely matters.
I think Anderson’s reaction (epecially given he would know the context) seemed disproportianate - but it’s really not for me, as a white guy, to say how a minority should or should not be offended by in the heat of the moment. do i think it’s possible that with clear heads and over a beer that Donaldson and Anderson might well be able to clear the air? probably. but in the heat of competition, and against a rival and known agitator… i havent grown up a person who had to experience racism, and i cant tell someone who has how they should feel about it. Donaldson can state his intent. he did. i believe him. i still think it was a dumb thing to do. just dont… yaknow?
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Wasn't it just uncovered that JD and Tim Anderson have a history of dislike.
If that's the case then the Jackie Robinson comment had negative connotation and in this day and age easily can become viewed as a racial statement.
MLB has to react to this, not because of the comment but the optics.
Also its 1 game, you can manage that.
Nope, totally disagree. In this day, it is a common tactic to try to bully someone by calling them a racist.
I agree to that, but don't think you can just have that mentality and look away from it all together either.
MLB had to do this.
Section, I hear what you’re saying, I really do. There are a few simple truths here: 1) there is absolutely a double standard - and there is a double standard because the history of white people and the history of black people in this country is quite different. So you’re right to say that it’s a double standard. 2) Donaldson was clearly trying to call Anderson a name to break his balls - it was not intended as a compliment, right? You and I both agree that Donaldson has no dislike for Anderson due to his skin color, but in so many of these things, and unfortunately, 3) intention rarely matters.
I think Anderson’s reaction (epecially given he would know the context) seemed disproportianate - but it’s really not for me, as a white guy, to say how a minority should or should not be offended by in the heat of the moment. do i think it’s possible that with clear heads and over a beer that Donaldson and Anderson might well be able to clear the air? probably. but in the heat of competition, and against a rival and known agitator… i havent grown up a person who had to experience racism, and i cant tell someone who has how they should feel about it. Donaldson can state his intent. he did. i believe him. i still think it was a dumb thing to do. just dont… yaknow?
Apparently Donaldson has done it for three years. So it is not new. If it was so bad, why didn't he reach out before this? So all of a sudden it became racist? Like a child he declares it as racist and the usual suspects fall in line.
Also, Anderson did this to himself. He called himself the new Jackie Robinson. Anderson has not said he told Donaldson to stop, or enough is enough - so he went nuclear. 0 to 100. And that is not right either.
But enough of my opinion.
If you're buddy busts on you and calls you Tiger after a chipping into the woods its fine cause its said in jest.
If you're coworker calls a Indian American HR manager "Gandhi" for being overly nice to everyone, that is meant with ill will or negative intent and needs to be addressed.
JD calling Tim Anderson Jackie Robinson when they already had history and a negative relationship has ill intent. So yea it comes across as racial.
You abouldbt be. There is nothing wrong with associating a person of color withanother great person of color. There is absolutely no readon for that. It is getting to the point where reverse segregation is a real thing. This is all very dangerous and society is letting it happen. Rather than discussing and clarifying, we are labeling and attacking. As a result, one side begins to refuse to make any compromise with the other. It works both ways and the media and public figures exacerbate it making some of us desensitized to to the other position. Nobody wins, nothing gets done, no progress gets made.
MLB had a chance to broker a fair decision here and it didn't. It succumbed to optics, widening the divide. If you just look at this thread, the majority thinks that Tim Anderson ovrreacted or outright played the race card. That sets an awfully treacherous precedent going forward if one side gets to determine what can be said to another and the rules dont match. Its apparent Tim Anderson brought all of this on himself, said the buzz words and got a result. MLB could have had both men meet in a room and have JD give a sincere apology. But no, they ESPN'd the hell out of this.
If you're buddy busts on you and calls you Tiger after a chipping into the woods its fine cause its said in jest.
If you're coworker calls a Indian American HR manager "Gandhi" for being overly nice to everyone, that is meant with ill will or negative intent and needs to be addressed.
JD calling Tim Anderson Jackie Robinson when they already had history and a negative relationship has ill intent. So yea it comes across as racial.
No, it doesnt. Because Tim referred to himself as Jackie Robinson. If your HR manager called themselves Ghandi after resolving matters successfully, playfully teasing them about calling themselves that by saying it yourself (while risky) has no racial intent.
This is exactly the kind of thing that chokes out communication. If I were in this situation, and I apologized and they were unreceptive and I was pumished. I would make it a point to necer want to address that person ever again.
He is no way in the same class as J. Robinson.
And I believe Donaldson was mocking him for it......
Many on here are probably too young to remember what Whitey Herzog did to Garry Templeton when flipped the bird.....
If that's the case then the Jackie Robinson comment had negative connotation and in this day and age easily can become viewed as a racial statement.
MLB has to react to this, not because of the comment but the optics.
Also its 1 game, you can manage that.
Rory - and I sort of agree with you on this, this the easy way out and not make it into a bigger issue.
You pick your fights, and this isn't one you want to blow up into something bigger.
Obviously the two situations aren’t in the same universe and I think Andersen’s 2019 comment is tone deaf.
But Andersen wasn’t making simply a baseball point, he was making a point about race.
At best it’s a clumsy insult from Donaldson. He should keep the ribbing to just baseball stuff.
Obviously the two situations aren’t in the same universe and I think Andersen’s 2019 comment is tone deaf.
But Andersen wasn’t making simply a baseball point, he was making a point about race.
At best it’s a clumsy insult from Donaldson. He should keep the ribbing to just baseball stuff.
I agree with this. MLB shpuld have had them in the same room, given Donaldson.a chance to apologize, Andderson a chance to tell JD how he took it and why it upset him and let Donaldson extend his hand and say he wont do it again and will be more careful next time.
Dropping the hammer 9n one side enable the other.
A much more productive outcome is Donaldson understanding why it’s an out of bounds blow, and then everyone move on.
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In comment 15716748 wigs in nyc said:
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and, as a PSA, i dont care how reasonable your point is - the next time ANYONE uses ‘woke’ in a sentence and comes off sounding intelligent will be the first
Oh, Donaldson is a bit of a douche himself, but if it is true Donaldson has been busting his balls for three years on this, then that is on Anderson for not doing something before. And no effin way is that racist.
i agree completely that what Donaldson was probably not intended with racial animus. But, Jesus Christ, if you dont see hownit could be taken that way… and you still think its a good idea to say that in this day and age… biting your tongue even if only out of your own self interest??? if you cant just not say that thing than you deserve the slap on the wrist you got coming simply out of stupidity
I don’t think Donaldson meant to a make a rase-based insult. That would be too crazy even for him.
But the context in which Anderson compared himself to Robinson was about race. There’s a reason he didn’t say he was the next Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth.
He was comparing the impact he hopes to have on Black kids and the game, to the impact Robinson had (silly comparison).
It’s probably over Donaldson’s head, but when he mocks Anderson’s comment, he’s not mocking a simple baseball skill comment. He’s mocking a comment about the impact someone hopes to have on Black kids (as clumsy of a comment as it was).
Again, I think the distinction and nuance is way lost on a dim bulb like Donaldson, so I don’t doubt his intentions.
But I don’t think it’s accurate to say there’s no racial element, when the impetus of the original comment was 100% about race.
so yeah it's stupid but I'm not going to start throwing equally stupid buzzwords and act like it has some greater significance
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There were no racial undertones here, it wasn't a racial or racialized comment, nothing.
I don’t think Donaldson meant to a make a rase-based insult. That would be too crazy even for him.
But the context in which Anderson compared himself to Robinson was about race. There’s a reason he didn’t say he was the next Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth.
He was comparing the impact he hopes to have on Black kids and the game, to the impact Robinson had (silly comparison).
It’s probably over Donaldson’s head, but when he mocks Anderson’s comment, he’s not mocking a simple baseball skill comment. He’s mocking a comment about the impact someone hopes to have on Black kids (as clumsy of a comment as it was).
Again, I think the distinction and nuance is way lost on a dim bulb like Donaldson, so I don’t doubt his intentions.
But I don’t think it’s accurate to say there’s no racial element, when the impetus of the original comment was 100% about race.
Regardless, I think Anderson's statement a few years ago was more insulting than Donaldson making a joke of it. First of all, Robinson was a pioneer for a much grander cause and endured a lot if shit for it. The only shit Anderson endures is due to his being an a-hole. Second of all, what is he xhsnging in the game? He's not the first obnoxious bat flipping a-hole and h won't be the last. He has done nothing , NOTHING, revolutionary.
It is always possible for a comment to be be racial, even if not racist and even if unintended. I do not think this falls into that category. If anything, itnpints out the absurdity in Anderson ignoring the racial undertones in his comments. It's embarrassing and he should have been taken to task over it then and now that it's in the forefront, taken to task now. It diminishes Robinson's legacy both as a player and a man, because Anderson doesn't measure up in either category.
That said, I fail to see where a suspension or fine should have even been a consideration. This boils down to taunting or trash talking abd is really benign in comparison to stuff said between the lines every day.
In the most simple terms, I do think Anderson was making a clumsy comparison between himself and Robinson as it relates to being a Black figure in baseball.
When Donaldson makes a sarcastic dig at him over that comment -- I *think* the joke is something to the effect of "you're no Jackie Robinson."
This is where I think it gets a little dicey. If Donaldson was just knocking him for his skills as a ball player, that seems in bounds.
But the context seems a little broader, even if Donaldson meant to go there or not.
This is why I think the player's union should have stepped in, had the two guys speak and hash it out. This was an opportunity set things straight, not punish someone.
Using an icon of civil rights in sports as a sneering snarky attack? I mean, this shit isn't hard.
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Please explain it to me.
Using an icon of civil rights in sports as a sneering snarky attack? I mean, this shit isn't hard.
Clearly you're choosing to ignore the fact that Anderson called himself today's Jackie Robinson. I mean, this shit isn't hard.
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In comment 15716767 robbieballs2003 said:
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Please explain it to me.
Using an icon of civil rights in sports as a sneering snarky attack? I mean, this shit isn't hard.
Clearly you're choosing to ignore the fact that Anderson called himself today's Jackie Robinson. I mean, this shit isn't hard.
He said he felt like he needed to change the game. It's not about saying he's the same player with the same statistics. That's not what it was.
I think Boone and Judge had the best takes on this. They acknowledged that JD didn't mean for it to come across as intentionally racist but also said this is a place Josh shouldn't be going and I agree. If TA and JD aren't tight like that, in the heat of the moment and the way the game was going, it very easily could have been taken as disrespectful.
I think TA is soft in other ways.. giving the finger to fans was a pretty bad look for him. I'm also not sure he, himself ever flat out said the comment was racist unless I missed it. LaRussa definitely did.. but post-game, I thought all TA said was that it was disrespectful and he's certainly allowed to feel that way.
I didn't think the suspension was necessary, I didn't think Donaldson intended it in a malicious or racial manner, but I also think it's fair to say that's probably just not a smart place to go with trash talk.
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In comment 15716767 robbieballs2003 said:
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Please explain it to me.
Using an icon of civil rights in sports as a sneering snarky attack? I mean, this shit isn't hard.
Clearly you're choosing to ignore the fact that Anderson called himself today's Jackie Robinson. I mean, this shit isn't hard.
it is for you
Its like the word "racist" has no meaning anymore. It's whatever someone wants it to be.
I think Donaldson is an absolute jackass. Always have. Given the nature of the comparison that Anderson drew between himself and Jackie Robinson, and the clear context of that being race, it was a very stupid and INSENSITIVE thing to say. And I could see how one might find it OFFENSIVE. I also think he's just a fucking jerk.
I don't see how it's RACIST, though. That word carries a much higher burden of proof / intent / malice, in my view.
But those three capitalized words just get freely tossed around as synonyms these days. So one you put yourself in the crosshairs of even one of those things, you're a card-carrying member of the KKK to many people.
It's odd to me that the league got involved, beyond perhaps making a statement. It's not a slur, and taking suspension action probably only increases the gray area surrounding this type of thing going forward. I do support the league's right to take action in defense of its brand. So my feelings aren't too strong that he shouldn't have been suspended either.
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MLB's reaction, since only Donaldson knows his true meaning in how he used the term. When Donaldson was traded to the Yankees, I went to check out his Twitter account & it was controversial. Yesterday,I went back to look at it & it had been scrubbed clean. No derogatory comments,opinions to be found!Cashman said he brought him in to "shake up the locker room"! Mission accomplished Cash!
No doubt, Donaldson is a jerk. I have no doubt the comment was made from that space. I don't believe for a second that it is a shared inside joke for both guys.
That said, I fail to see where a suspension or fine should have even been a consideration. This boils down to taunting or trash talking abd is really benign in comparison to stuff said between the lines every day.
Agree with this take. In the end though it's Donaldson and he's an ass and a 1 game hit couldn't hurt.
Its like the word "racist" has no meaning anymore. It's whatever someone wants it to be.
I think Donaldson is an absolute jackass. Always have. Given the nature of the comparison that Anderson drew between himself and Jackie Robinson, and the clear context of that being race, it was a very stupid and INSENSITIVE thing to say. And I could see how one might find it OFFENSIVE. I also think he's just a fucking jerk.
I don't see how it's RACIST, though. That word carries a much higher burden of proof / intent / malice, in my view.
But those three capitalized words just get freely tossed around as synonyms these days. So one you put yourself in the crosshairs of even one of those things, you're a card-carrying member of the KKK to many people.
It's odd to me that the league got involved, beyond perhaps making a statement. It's not a slur, and taking suspension action probably only increases the gray area surrounding this type of thing going forward. I do support the league's right to take action in defense of its brand. So my feelings aren't too strong that he shouldn't have been suspended either.
You're trying to split the atom here between offensive and racist with no real reason or distinction. The only context where this can be "offensive" is if you're looking at his comment to be about race. You're presenting a distinction without a difference.
You can think that Andersons comments about being the only African american on his team at the time are ridiculous. To be bringing them up and using them as snarky comments three years later is racist.
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In comment 15716692 bwitz said:
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It wasn’t used in a derogatory manner. Tim Anderson LITERALLY called himself the new Jackie Robinson in 2019. It was ribbing, at worst.
Completely ridiculous.
He should've just said "him tim how's your wife and my kids"
'By the way, I saw your wife at the Capri Lounge last night. Hell of a dancer. You must be very very proud. Oh, and that guy she was with? Oh, I'm sure he's a close personal friend and all, but tell me, what was he doing wearing her panties on his head?'
Just watched major league last week. What a fucking classic. They don’t make them like that anymore. Hell, people today couldn’t handle that movie. They would be too triggered and would have to find their safe spaces.