Yankees' Donaldson Labled "Racist" By White Sox After Scuffle

 Yankees third baseman/ DH Josh Donaldson is in hot water. 

On Saturday during the Yankees 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox, Donaldson got into a pair of scuffles with White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and catcher Yasmani Grandal, the later of which almost started a near brawl at home plate over what the White Sox are claiming were racist remarks by Donaldson. 

Josh Donaldson. Getty Images.

To understand the feud between the two, one must look to the series the Yanks and Sox played a week ago in Chi-Town when Anderson claimed that Donaldson applied a very hard tag on him leading to a benches clearing incident. 

On Saturday after the final out of the third inning was recorded, Donaldson rounded second and started chirping in the direction of Anderson. The two came face to face leading both benches to clear. No punches were thrown as both Donaldson and Anderson were pulled away from one another.

://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1528080562476486658?s=20&t=UExHDV6e41CepuCj3S3mwQ

 htts://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1528080562476486658?s=20&t=UExHDV6e41CepuCj3By the bottom of the fifth inning, things got worse. As Donaldson strode to the plate he started jawing with White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal leading to benches to clear. Anderson had to be restrained by teammate Jose Abreu in the dugout. 

After the game it was revealed by Anderson that Donaldson called him "Jackie" in reference to Jackie Robinson, and that he didn't appreciate the racial undertones of what Donaldson was saying to him. 

White Sox Manager Tony LaRussa poured gas on the fire claiming that Donaldson used racial remarks in the direction of Anderson, but refused to be specific. 

Donaldson later explained that he has called Anderson "Jackie" in the past, but it was only meant as a joke between the two of them. Donaldson said it was based on Anderson calling himself the next "Jackie Robinson." 

 

MLB is said to be investigating. The question is really what else did Donaldson say to Anderson to spark such outrage? There needs to be more context to the comments. Obviously if it comes out that Donaldson used Jackie Robinson's name in a way that is racial and inappropriate, the Yankees must take swift action.