Michael Hill, senior vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement prior to Wednesday’s game. Anderson was hitting leadoff for Wednesday’s series finale against the Reds and stayed in the lineup as he elected to appeal the suspension. The discipline will be held in abeyance until the process is complete, with three regular-season games remaining this season at home this weekend against the Tigers.
Anderson’s suspension would have no effect on his postseason play.
Anderson did not comment on the suspension before the game. He did seemingly make his feelings known via his Twitter account, with a tweet clearly disagreeing with the decision.
The on-field incident began with José Abreu being hit by an 0-2 pitch from Tigers reliever Alex Lange, marking the 21st time Abreu had been hit by a pitch this season. Abreu tried to take second when the next pitch to Yasmani Grandal got away and he slid hard into Niko Goodrum at second base as he was thrown out.
Abreu and Goodrum had words when he stood up, but Abreu told the media Tuesday it was Lange’s comments setting him off after the play.
“You get mad because you are concerned about yourself,” said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. “If something happened, if you get hit badly, then your career can end. Your life can end. That’s why you’re concerned in those moments.”
The contact made by Anderson is not clearly visible from regular broadcast video. Anderson had the day off Monday, which was a makeup game from a postponement during the previous week, but he can be seen running on to the field when the benches and bullpens empty.
Bummer confident in White Sox
Aaron Bummer did not hesitate when asked Wednesday if the White Sox were the American League’s best team going into the postseason.
“Yeah, absolutely,” the White Sox reliever told MLB.com. “I think that when we go out and play our game, there isn’t anybody who stands in our way. I think everybody in the clubhouse feels that way; everybody upstairs, and I think our fans feel the same way, too.
“Putting the pieces together and going out there and playing our game and performing to the way we can perform — if we do that, we are going to win a lot of games in October and hopefully [we’re] holding that trophy in the end.”
Bummer pointed out it’s a disappointment for any team in the playoffs who doesn’t walk away with the World Series title.
“That’s an easy statement to make. It’s a disappointment to not be carrying the trophy in the end,” Bummer said. “Losing the last game of the season would be a failure for any team.
“As soon as you get there, it’s anybody’s game. Expectations or anything like that go out the window, other than the fact we want to win the last game.”
Tuesday’s 7-1 victory over Cincinnati gave Tony La Russa his 13th season as manager with at least 90 wins, including two straight (2011, ’21). He has two such years with the White Sox, separated by 38 years, when he won 99 games in 1983.
La Russa has presided over 13 division titles, tied with Joe Torre for the second most in AL/NL history behind Bobby Cox (15). La Russa is the first manager to lead a team to the postseason in five different decades and he owns a 70-58 career playoff record, the second-most wins in AL/NL history behind Torre (84).
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