Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson confirmed that Saturday's incident wasn't the first time he told New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson not to call him "Jackie."
Anderson said Tuesday that Donaldson first called him the name during a 2019 game when the latter played for the Atlanta Braves. While Donaldson says the two players "joked" about the name back then, Anderson says he never saw it that way and told him to stop calling him that three years ago.
"I told him (in 2019), we never have to talk again," Anderson told reporters, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "I won't speak to you; you won't speak to me if that's how you're going to refer to me. I knew he knew exactly what he was doing (in New York)."
He added that Donaldson didn't speak to him while playing for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago's division rivals, from 2020-21.
When Donaldson called him "Jackie" at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, it drew the ire of the entire White Sox team, leading to a brief benches-clearing incident. One of Donaldson's teammates, outfielder Aaron Judge, was among those who criticized the remark. Donaldson received a one-game suspension from Major League Baseball, though he appealed the ban.
Anderson, who quieted a jeering Yankee Stadium crowd by hitting a three-run homer the following day, revealed Tuesday that no one from the Yankees has reached out to discuss what happened, according to James Fegan of The Athletic. The 28-year-old says he's ready to move on from the incident but doesn't want any association with Donaldson.
"I'm not looking for no friendship or relationship from that behalf," he said, per Rogers. "I'm going to keep playing hard and being a great teammate."
