Royals-White Sox Beef Gains New Life As Pitcher Tossed For Hitting Tim Anderson In The Head

The beef between White Sox shortstop and good bat-flipper Tim Anderson and the Kansas City Royals reared its ugly head again Wednesday night, when Anderson was plunked in the helmet in the second inning by Royals starter Glenn Sparkman. In an effort to get out ahead of any escalating hostility, home plate umpire Mark Carlson immediately tossed Sparkman for what upon further review could very easily have been a poorly thrown changeup.

As the Royals broadcast was at pains to point out, Sparkman’s pitch didn’t have the velocity of the usual chin-music message pitch, clocking in at a relatively breezy 86 miles per hour. Sparkman’s fastball goes into the low to mid-90s; both his changeup and slider coast along in the mid-80s, suggesting this could have been a mishandled off-speed pitch, and not a heater with bad intentions. And then there’s the body language of both Sparkman and catcher Martín Maldonado, both of whom seemed dejected and disappointed by the HBP. After the game Royals manager Ned Yost was adamant that Sparkman’s pitch was in no way an expression of animosity toward Anderson:

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But there’s history to consider, here. The Royals had a dumb, minimally spiced beef with Anderson in 2018 which may have flavored a benches-clearing incident back in April, when Anderson was plunked in the can by Royals pitcher Brad Keller for celebrating an earlier dinger. Keller, Anderson, and a couple coaches were ejected from that game, and then, ridiculously, Anderson was suspended for a game for having reportedly called Keller a “weak-ass ####### N-word” during the exchange.

Well, if any teams are going to feud, why not these two?

Tim Anderson has no time for unwritten rules, calls baseball a ‘boring’ sport

Chicago White Sox shortstop and resident bat flipper Tim Anderson is still making the rounds on the heels of his run-in with the Kansas City Royals and his one-game ban from Major League Baseball for using racially-charged language during the melee.

He’s also still letting it be known that he cares only about providing entertainment for the paying customers, and cares nothing about the game’s unwritten rules.

Appearing on ESPN’s The Dan Le Batard Show on Wednesday, Anderson touched on the topics that have made him the talk of MLB so far during the 2019 season. He also raised a few eyebrows by calling baseball a “boring sport” and admitting how detached he is from the game when he’s not on the field.

Can’t say I agree with the latter- but the former seems to exist largely to reinforce tendencies that are among the least savory aspects of the game as it is currently played….

Tim Anderson, Cody Bellinger win Player of the Month honors for April

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and Dodgers 1B/OF Cody Bellinger have earned Player of the Month honors for April, Major League Baseball just announced.

Anderson, 25, ended April batting .375/.394/.615 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 99 plate appearances. He was involved in a benches-clearing altercation with the Royals in mid-April after Brad Keller threw a fastball behind his back. Anderson apparently used some language that MLB didn’t like and received a one-game suspension.

Bellinger, 23, put together one of the best opening months in baseball history. He hit .431/.508/.890 with 14 home runs and 37 RBI in 132 plate appearances. Bellinger, Christian Yelich (2019), Álex Rodríguez (2007), and Albert Pujols (2006) are the only players to ever end April with 14 home runs. Bellinger was vying to become the first with 15, but went homerless in the final two games of the month.

Does this mean that their pictures will be hung up at MLB headquarters?

Tim Anderson: ‘I Kind of Feel Like Today’s Jackie Robinson,’ Wants To Break ‘Have-Fun Barrier’

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson does not care how you feel about the way he plays baseball.

He smiles, openly has fun and flips his bat if he wants to, like he did after booming a walk-off home run in the White Sox’ win over the Tigers last Friday.

What Anderson is doing is nothing uncommon, but he says he is trying get the viewing public to see what he is all about.

Question, which some of you might know the answer to:

How can I become a narcissist like this?

White Sox-Royals benches clear, managers go after each other | The Kansas City Star

Why can’t we all just get along?