Former Padres outfielder weighs in on Tim Anderson/Josh Donaldson fiasco

Former Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin calls out Josh Donaldson for racially insensitive comments to Tim Anderson

Over the weekend, New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson made headlines for using Jackie Robinson’s name to taunt Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

Yes, that Jackie Robinson.

According to Anderson, Donaldson said “Hey Jackie” to him multiple times during the game, which led to a benches-clearing incident between the two teams.

In postgame media availability, Donaldson confirmed that he’d said “Hey Jackie” to Anderson, but insisted it was an ‘inside joke’ between them and something he’d said to him before. Most people didn’t buy the excuse, as a real inside joke wouldn’t have offended Anderson.

Former San Diego Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin is one of many current and former MLB players who weighed in.

In addition to playing for the Padres from 2011-14, he played for the Yankees in 2019, two of 10 teams he played for, including three stints with the Detroit Tigers and two with the Florida/Miami Marlins. Until his retirement in January of this year, Maybin was one of a dwindling number of Black MLB players, who now make up less than eight percent of active rosters.

Maybin has spoken out against racism in MLB and systemic racism many times before, including when fans at Fenway Park screamed racial epithets and threw peanuts at Adam Jones in 2017. He is a founding member of the Players’ Alliance, which has more than 150 current and former Black MLB players who work to make baseball a more equal and inclusive place.

His tweet from this weekend is also noteworthy as he joined the YES Network as an analyst for Yankees games this season.

Anderson put Donaldson’s “inside joke” excuse to bed on Tuesday, too:

"“I told him, we never have to talk again. ‘I won’t speak to you, you won’t speak to me, if that’s how you’re going to refer to me.’I knew he knew exactly what he was doing.”"

He also confirmed that he and Donaldson have not and will never be friends:

"I can definitely move on but I’m not looking for no friendship or relationship from that behalf.”"

While several Yankees players and their manager, Aaron Boone, publicly stated that they think Donaldson’s joke was unacceptable, Anderson says no one from the Yankees has reached out to him.

Furthermore, Donaldson is appealing the one-game suspension and undisclosed fine MLB handed down, which only makes him look worse. Nothing says “I’m racist” like doubling down.