Source: Ron Schwane / Getty
Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez and Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson got into a fistfight after exchanging a few words on Saturday at Ohio’s Progressive Field.
It began when Ramirez slid between Anderson’s legs before being ruled safe with a double. The two talked as Ramirez lay on the ground before standing up when things got more heated.
Ramirez put his hand in Anderson’s face, leading to Anderson ripping off his glove and squaring up.
Anderson threw the first punch but missed, and Ramirez responded with a swift right-hander that landed, and Anderson fell to the ground. Soon after, both benches were cleared, and they pulled the two men apart.
An actual fight in an MLB game is rare, as most disagreements end with postering, yelling, hats thrown to the ground and ejections.
No one is quite sure what Ramirez was angry about because he was safe, but Guardians manager Terry Francona spoke to the media afterward, and it may have been because Anderson stood over him for a bit too long.
“I’m not sure I know everything,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said about the brawl. “Before it started, I know Anderson was yelling at Gabriel [Arias] — I think the umpire went and told him to knock it off — and then when José slid into second, I think José felt like he kind of stood over him. Then things got away from everybody.”
Ramirez pointed to Anderson being the aggressor, telling WEWS, “He said he wanted to fight. And if he wanted to fight, I had to defend myself.”
Anderson didn’t speak publicly about the fight but took to Twitter with some cryptic tweets. It started ominously with tweets like, “you know all this happening for a reason …” and “been going through this shit for a min …” before he randomly called out people for changing, writing, “alotta mf been switching up too.. #fakeshit.” He ended the bizarre fury by saying, “hope you picking up what I’m putting down too..” and “The Picture Bigger …”
https://twitter.com/TimAnderson7/status/1688331883212341248?s=20
https://twitter.com/TimAnderson7/status/1688331084524617728?s=20
Both players were ejected for the physical altercation, and the White Sox won the game 7-4.
Twitter is less concerned with who won the game and was ready to get jokes off about Anderson getting knocked to the ground. See the reactions below.
