Tim Anderson has accomplished a lot in his MLB career but all of that may soon be overshadowed by the image of him getting rocked by a José Ramírez right hook.
After hitting a ball down the right field line, José Ramírez dove head-first into second base for a hustle double. Tim Anderson slapped down a tag as Ramírez slid between his legs. Ramírez then got up and voiced his displeasure with the tag. The two then dropped their gloves and squared up.
After throwing a few wild swings, Ramírez connected with Anderson’s jaw causing him to fall backward. Even as teammates tried to forcibly escort him to the dugout Anderson’s legs had trouble staying underneath him as they bucked a few times.
It’s an image that is going to stay with Anderson his entire career no matter what he does much like Jose Bautista and Robin Ventura before him.
The Ejections
After both dugouts and bullpens emptied onto the field the total altercation lasted 14 minutes. Just when things looked like they had settled down another scuffle erupted round two of the brawl. When the dust finally settled five people were ejected.
Tim Anderson and Ramírez got tossed for starting the fight. That was the first time Ramírez had ever been ejected in his MLB career. It highlights just how frustrated he got.
“Even when I get frustrated with umpires, I try to take that down with myself to the dugout,” Ramírez explained. “I don’t want to disrespect the game. I just want to play the game.”
Both managers, Pedro Grifol and Terry Francona were also ejected. Grifol had to be held back a couple of times after he came out of the dugout screaming at the Guardians.
“I didn’t appreciate the fact that I thought Anderson, once he had like 11 or 12 guys in between him, that’s when he started [trash talking],” Francona said. “I said something to him and that’s probably what their manager was yelling about.”
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, who sprinted from the bullpen and played a part in igniting the second wave of fighting was also tossed along with Cleveland third base coach Mike Sarbaugh.
The Cause
The bad blood stems from the fourth inning of Friday’s game when Anderson laid down an aggressive tag on Brayan Rocchio that pushed his hand off the bag. Rocchio was initially called safe on the play but upon a review, the call was overturned.
Guardians manager Terry Francona was irate with the call and came storming out of the dugout to argue with the umpires. He yelled in the face of home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman and was ejected from the game. Francona even complained about the call to the media after the game.
Anderson is already growing a reputation for being an unlikable figure in many circles across the MLB. Case and point Josh Donaldoson’s comments from last year. Ramírez happens to be in that camp. Another hard tag at the hands of Anderson was all he needed to light the fuse.
“I think he’s been disrespecting the game for a while now it’s not from just today. I’ve been having a chance to tell him during the game,” Ramírez said when asked about his fight with Anderson. “As the play happened he tagged me really hard and then he wanted to fight so I defended myself.”
Francona also said after the game that Anderson had been chirping at Guardians first baseman Gabriel Arias throughout the evening. All that talk added to the team's frustration with Anderson so when things came to blows they had no interest in hearing what the White Sox shortstop had to say.
The Guardians made their thoughts on the White Sox quite clear last season after beating them for the AL Central title. During their postgame celebration, they mocked Tony La Russa and chanted “fuck the White Sox”.
Even Noah Syndergaard, who was just traded to Cleveland last week could sense that his new teammates did not like the White Sox.
“I could tell that these two teams don’t like each other,” Syndergaard told MLB.com, “and I don’t think it’s going to be resolved anytime soon.”
Micheal Kopech offered a similar sentiment.
“There’s been a lot of mouthing between the teams the last few series,” Kopech said. “We’re just not playing our best baseball but we’re also not going to get bullied by a team that’s also playing less than .500 baseball.
The White Sox would get the last laugh holding on to win the game 7-4.
The Aftermath
You get the sense that Anderson’s teammates were not too thrilled with his antics either. It's also worth noting nobody on the White Sox went after Ramirez after he punched Anderson. Micheal Kopech, who was still pitching at the time of the fight, was the only one who tried to grab Ramirez before things escalated.
Meanwhile, Ramírez's teammates brought him water while he stood on second base after the dog pile had cleared.
After Anderson got dropped it took several teammates to get him back into the locker room as Anderson tried to resist the entire way. You could also see the frustration on Andrew Vaughn and Yasmani Grandal’s faces as Anderson rushed out of the clubhouse for round two. At one point Vaughn had to pick up Anderson like a child and move him to the dugout.
Eloy Jimenez got stepped on in the middle of the scuffle and came out limping. He could be seen throwing his arms up in the air and slamming the top of the dugout in frustration. Anderson will likely miss time due to. suspension.
However, Elvis Andrus, who has now had a front-row seat for two of the cleanest punches in baseball history after watching Rougned Odor punch Jose Bautista back in 2016, offered his support for Anderson.
“We love Timmy and we’re always going to support him. He plays with passion and gives 100 percent on the field.
Pedro Grifol even went as far as to say that the fight might have resulted in their best win of the season.
“Everybody was out there fighting for each other and protecting each other,” Grifol said the next day. “It was a much-needed win. Could it have been the best win of the year? Possibly. If you’re basing it on emotions, yeah, it was the best win of the year.”
Anderson was left out of the White Sox starting lineup on Sunday. Ramírez was in Cleveland's lineup.
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