New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)
Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson issued an apology to Tim Anderson and the family of Jackie Robinson over his exchange with the White Sox star.
Josh Donaldson isn’t exactly backing down from defending himself over calling Tim Anderson “Jackie” in reference to Jackie Robinson over the weekend.
However, he has issued a formal apology “for offending” Anderson while adding an apology to Robinson’s family for “any distress this incident may have caused.”
Things kicked off between Donaldson and Anderson when the Yankees third baseman called the White Sox player “Jackie.” Donaldson says he was referencing a 2019 interview Anderson did with Sports Illustrated saying he feels like “today’s Jackie Robinson.”
Anderson said he was offended by the exchange, which many feel had racial overtones. On Tuesday he told reporters that Donaldson had called him Jackie for the first time in 2019 and he told him, “We never have to talk again.”
Josh Donaldson apology to Tim Anderson, Jackie Robinson
“First and foremost, I have the utmost respect for what Tim Anderson brings to the game of baseball. I stated over the weekend that I apologized for offending Tim and that it was a misunderstanding based on multiple exchanges between us over the years. My view of that exchange hasn’t changed and I absolutely meant no disrespect. In the past, it had never been an issue and now that it is, we have a mutual understanding. I would also like to apologize to Mrs. Rachel Robinson and the Jackie Robinson family for any distress this incident may have caused. Jackie was a true American hero and I hold his name in the highest regard.”
Donaldson continues to stand by the idea that he meant no disrespect, but he definitely wasn’t calling Anderson anything out of respect in that moment. It was a mockery, plain and simple.
The apology to the Robinson family is the least he could since he decided to use “Jackie” as a taunt.
MLB suspended Donaldson for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount but he is appealing the penalty. He hasn’t played this week because he’s on the COVID IL list.