White Sox closer Liam Hendriks rips Yankees 3B Josh Donaldson over 'Jackie' comment to Tim Anderson

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Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks ripped New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson on Sunday over fallout from Donaldson's alleged racist comment against White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

In particular, Hendriks took exception with the notion that Donaldson, who is white, referred to Anderson, who is Black, as "Jackie" — in reference to Jackie Robinson — as an inside joke.

"Yeah, that's completely inappropriate," Hendriks said. "And then hearing what was said after the game — usually you have inside jokes with the people you get along with, not people that don't get along at all. So that statement right there was complete (expletive).

"But, then again, my feelings towards the individual in question are pretty well documented in the fact that we don't get along."

Teammates restrain Tim Anderson after the dugouts emptied in the fifth inning.
Teammates restrain Tim Anderson after the dugouts emptied in the fifth inning.

When the two teams met in Chicago on May 13, Donaldson pushed Anderson off third base while applying a tag, and Anderson shoved Donaldson, leading to an exchange of words and the benches clearing.

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After Saturday's game, Anderson said that Donaldson called him "Jackie," in reference to Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in 1947 and whose jersey is retired by Major League Baseball.

"I've spoken to (people) now in four separate clubhouses that he's been into and as a whole, none of them have gotten along," Hendriks continued. "So, yeah, him whipping out and trying to pull that narrative is complete and utter (expletive)."

After the game, Donaldson apologized and said he is open to meeting with Anderson and said he has talked to his Yankees teammates about the incident.

"I called him Jackie," Donaldson said. "He came out with an interview that says he’s the new Jackie Robinson. We’ve actually joked about that. I’ve said it to him in years past, not in any manner than just joking around. My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter. That’s not what I was trying to do by any manner and that’s what happened."

Given the previous altercations Anderson and the White Sox have had with Donaldson, Hendriks didn't buy Donaldson's reason for using the name "Jackie" to address Anderson.

"Us, in this clubhouse, we have TA's back in everything," Hendriks said.

"It's like having an inside joke with a guy you are a nemesis with, I guess you could say, but yeah, that's not how it went down in this clubhouse and I don't understand how, if he ever thought about it like that, it's straight delusional."

In a 2019 interview with Sports Illustrated, Anderson said he feels "like today’s Jackie Robinson." After Saturday's game, Anderson indicated that Donaldson had used "Jackie" to address him in that May 13 game in Chicago.

“I spared him that time, and then it happened again. I don't play like that," Anderson said. "I don't think it was called for. Nobody has time to be playing like that."

Said White Sox manager Tony La Russa, after Saturday's game: "He made a racist comment, that's all I'm going to say."

Contributing: Scooby Axson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White Sox P Liam Hendriks rips Yankees' Josh Donaldson over 'Jackie' comment