Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for “his inappropriate actions toward fans” during Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, Major League Baseball announced Friday.
The All-Star apologized after a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Target Field.
“There are a lot of people who really look up to me,” Anderson said. “I take full accountability of what I did. But it’s something that I have to learn from and grow from.
“I understand that the game can be tough sometimes. You can get frustrated sometimes and people can say certain things that get you out of character, but for the most part, there are a lot of kids out there watching. I have to be a bigger person in that situation and just suck it up, whatever is being said.”
Cameras caught Anderson making a middle-finger gesture after something was said from the crowd before the bottom of the eighth inning of the 11-1 loss.
“It’s something I already learned from,” Anderson said. “(I) kind of let a lot of people down. But at the end of the day life keeps going on. Now, I get to continue to try to be great.
“Sometimes you are going to react different. That was one of those moments where I reacted different. … I’m going to keep going and grow from it. Just continue to be me and lock it back in and keep learning.”
Anderson appealed and played Friday.
“Doesn’t change anything that we believe about him,” said Sox manager Tony La Russa, offering support. “Nothing.”
The Sox lost their fifth straight in tough fashion.
The game began well, with starter Michael Kopech allowing three hits and striking out seven in five shutout innings.
The Sox led 1-0 in the eighth, but the Twins had runners on the corners with two outs against Kendall Graveman.
Carlos Correa hit a grounder to the hole between third and short. Anderson made a nice play to get to the ball, but his tough, off-balanced throw got past first baseman José Abreu.
A run scored on the infield hit, and Luis Arraez advanced to third on the throwing error. Abreu tracked down the ball and made a wild throw to the plate, allowing Arraez — who originally wasn’t headed home — to score the go-ahead run.
It was Anderson’s sixth error in his last three games — three in Game 1 on Wednesday, two Thursday and one Friday.
“You go through tough things,” he said. “It just happens to be defense. I’m in a tough stretch right now. But nothing is going to stop. I have to keep working and I have to continue to get better. … I keep letting these guys down but I’m going … get to where I need to be. That’s really all.”
The Sox loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Reese McGuire popped out to Correa and Jake Burger struck out looking on a close 3-2 pitch.
“We are going through something that’s really tough right now,” Anderson said. “We are going to have to keep grinding and keep working and we’ll play ourselves out of it.”
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