Aaron Judge was fresh off a two-homer night after Monday’s loss, but still took time to answer questions about Josh Donaldson’s one-game suspension for his “Hey Jackie” remark to Tim Anderson on Saturday.
“It’s a tough one,” Judge said. “Joke or not, I just don't think it's the right thing to do there, especially given the history, especially the series in Chicago, kind of a little bit of beef between Anderson and JD.”
Chicago manager Tony La Russa said it was a “racist comment,” while Anderson called the reference to a 2019 interview in which he said he could see himself being “the next Jackie Robinson” in terms of bringing change to the game, disrespectful. Donaldson claimed it was an inside joke between the two of them, but the White Sox clearly didn’t agree, with pitcher Liam Hendriks calling Donaldson’s explanation “bulls--t.”
Judge said it was a mistake on Donaldson’s part, but he’s ready to move on.
“Anderson is one of the best shortstops in the game and a big part of MLB and what’s going on here and how we can grow the game,” Judge said. “JD, for that one game suspension, I don’t know. JD knows he made a mistake, he owned up to it, and now we’ve got to move on.”
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