If Donaldson read any of the paragraphs around it, he should have picked up the nuance of Anderson’s words. At the time, Anderson was referencing not his on-field ability or stature in the history of the game, but the blowback he faced for a jubilant celebration. Earlier that season, he had incurred punishment — via both unwritten rule and MLB decree — for flipping his bat on a homer. The Kansas City Royals beaned him and set off a skirmish, then MLB effectively suspended Anderson for as long as Royals pitcher Brad Keller — one game for Anderson, five games (or one start) for Keller — for using the n-word in the heat of the altercation.
Anderson’s point was clear: It was an uphill battle to be himself on the field, even when MLB was supposedly encouraging a freewheeling, celebratory style of play with its “Let the Kids Play” campaign. And the underlying implication was there for the taking, too: He was held to a higher standard, suspended as the victim of a beanball because he reacted by turning around a word designed to demean him.
Feeling like Jackie Robinson, in other words, is a significant, honorable weight to carry. It’s also a heavy one.
Presumably, Donaldson read Anderson’s comments not as an explanation of that experience, but as a boast. The apparent misunderstanding of the situation — willful or otherwise — has long roots. When MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson, it often feels like he was a conquering hero, like there was a mission accomplished. This, of course, is not true. He courageously began the fight for a place in the sport that Anderson and others still have to wage every single day.
Anderson is one of MLB’s best and most prominent Black players, but their ranks are dwindling. The White Sox executive Ken Williams excoriated his peers this past winter for baseball’s lack of progress in diversifying front offices.
No statistics are needed to get at the basic gist of the matter. Donaldson and Anderson both hail from Alabama, both got drafted in the first round, yet it should be abundantly clear to Donaldson that they walk different roads as major-league stars. Over and over, Anderson is asked about being a Black baseball player. About how he plays the game. About his opinion on sepia-toned baseball movies. About his responsibility to encourage more Black kids to play the game. About Jackie Robinson.
How many times, do you think, has Donaldson been asked to represent white baseball stars?
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