White Sox IF Tim Anderson served his one game suspension last week for using profane language during the benches clearing incident in Chicago last week between the White Sox and the Kansas City Royals. Anderson chose not to appeal, saying that "I would rather just flush it and keep going, because it would have dragged on for another week or two if I appealed. I just didn't want to go through that process." Anderson enthusiastically flipped his bat towards his dugout after crushing a home run in the 4th inning against Royals pitcher Brad Keller. Keller responded by hitting Anderson in his next at bat, which led to the benches clearing. Keller and Anderson were ejected, and Keller got a 5 game suspension, with Anderson getting 1 game.
MLB announced that Anderson was suspended over his language, but would not say what the language was. There are reports that he called Keller a "weak-ass f------ n----." Anderson defended his choice of words after the game, saying that "People don't know what we go through as black men and they don't know exactly where we come from being a black man, and the culture of being a black man, what I said was one of those things that happens when black men get mad. When we're angry, that's like the go-to word. That lets them know that this guy is serious. It's a culture thing. I didn't mean anything by it, but that's just in my language."
Some athletes had some comments on the Anderson suspension, including former big league second baseman Micah Johnson and Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman. Stroman defended Anderson, saying that "You can't suspend someone for language. That's ridiculous, Also, what he said is also normal slang trash talk in our culture." Johnson said that "Dear white people offended by Tim Anderson using the N-Word, it's not your job to police how black people use it. ... You won't ever have to endure a barrage of N-words used to threaten you as you try to vote. And you won't ever have 100 camera angles catching your response as someone pegs you with 90-plus-mph rocks. ...
Suspending one of your few black players for language after getting hit ... will leave you with white benches."
Indeed, league diversity has been on the decline in recent years. African-Americans accounted for 18 percent of baseball in 1991, and now account for 8.4 percent as of 2018. Legendary Mariners OF Ken Griffey Jr said that the diversity problem is "a baseball problem," and credited the NFL and NBA for appealing to a broader audience. Anderson is hitting .418 with 9 home runs and 9 stolen bases through 17 games.
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