Josh Donaldson Admits to Calling Tim Anderson “Jackie” Prior to Bench Clearing Incident Between White Sox and Yankees

Things got heated between the White Sox and Yankees on Saturday.  Yankees DH Josh Donaldson and White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson exchanged words during the game.

This led to a confrontation at home between Donaldson and White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal.  The benches would clear and an upset Anderson would have to be restrained by his teammates.

Tim Anderson once again says something to Josh Donaldson and this time Donaldson chirped back pic.twitter.com/vyTrsl1xln

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 21, 2022

Grandal and Donaldson exchanged words at home plate, benches cleared, TA had to be restrained 😳 pic.twitter.com/3OgsVivV7U

— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) May 21, 2022

After the game the reason for the bench clearing incident was revealed.  According to Anderson, Donaldson called him "Jackie" as in Jackie Robinson.  Donaldson admitted to calling Anderson, Jackie and provided some context.

Here's Anderson and Donaldson explaining their side of the story.

Tim Anderson says Josh Donaldson referred to him as "Jackie [Robinson]" pic.twitter.com/sk8R7HEJ7w

— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) May 21, 2022

Josh Donaldson admits he called Tim Anderson "Jackie" on the field today: pic.twitter.com/eko1UaR3Nt

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 21, 2022

Look before we unwrap what went down here, unrelated to this incident, both Anderson and Donaldson are assholes.  So there's that.  Now that we have that out of the way let's take a look at what went down.

I don't know why Anderson wouldn't mention the fact that he and Donaldson used to joke about him calling himself Jackie Robinson, but it's probably to make Donaldson look like a racist.  If anyone thinks Donaldson is being racist here they're insane.

Why would Donaldson, out of the blue, call Anderson "Jackie" if there wasn't some sort past where they joked about it?  It doesn't add up.

If something changed and Anderson doesn't want to joke about it then Donaldson apologized.  End of story.  It doesn't need to be blown up even more than it already has been.