Tim Anderson was slapped with a three-game suspension for his role in the White Sox and Tigers benches-clearing incident last week. Anderson was accused of making contact with an umpire. But the White Sox shortstop wasn’t shy about owning up to his actions that resulted in his suspension.
“Yeah I pushed him,” the White Sox All-Star said. But that came with a catch.
“But he started it.”
Anderson even took to Twitter to discuss his disproval tweeting “I call BS”.
Because of this Anderson is appealing his three-game suspension which will allow him to participate in the rest of the regular season. The suspension will not affect his availability in the postseason either. If the appeal is denied the soonest Anderson could miss time is the beginning of the 2022 campaign.
Anderson is arguing that the umpire Tim Timmons, was shoving him first which cause him to respond. With the mob of bodies surrounding Anderson, he did not realize who was making contact with him so his instincts told him to push back.
“Did you see the video? He was pushing me,” Anderson said before Friday’s game against the Tigers. “I didn’t realize who he was, because he was so close, pushing me. What’s your reaction when someone pushes you? To push him off of you. So I pushed him off of me. And I realized it was him, but at that point, it’s too late.”
“He initiated it,” Anderson continued. “I just pushed him back, I pushed him off of me, because he was kind of in my space, a little too close.
“He was saying, ‘You guys are in the playoffs.’ At that point, I’m thinking, obviously, we just got done pushing from the other players, so I pushed him off of me, told him I don’t give a ‘bleep.’ And I think he was mad about that part, that part that I said when I said ‘I don’t give an ‘F’.
“But I didn’t realize it was the umpire. Obviously, we all know if I would have seen him, and I knew that’s who it was, obviously, I wouldn’t just be pushing an umpire he didn’t do anything to me. So, it kind of didn’t make sense.
“Yeah, he definitely initiated it, so of course I’m going to push him back. I come to find out it was him. But it’s all right.”
Anderson’s honestly is something that has made him one of the faces of baseball. He is not afraid to speak his mind without a filter. His outspoken personality is one of the reasons he has emerged as a national figure in the MLB. It has also turned him into the face of the franchise on the South Side.
Anderson’s appeal allows him to get some crucial final tune-up at-bats before the playoffs start. He is putting these at-bats to good use. Anderson is having another stellar season. TA is hitting .307 with 17 home runs and a .804 OPS. In his last seven games, he has had nine hits. Anderson is heating up at the right time so it’s a good thing this suspension will not hamper his ability to play in the playoffs.
