Tim Anderson does not care how you feel about the way he plays baseball and he is out here making insanely bold claims about himself.
The Chicago White Sox shortstop made waves on social media last week when he hit a home run, flipped his bat, got plunked next time up, and started a huge brawl against the Kansas City Royals.
He was ultimately suspended for a game, not because of the fight, but because he referred to the opposing pitcher, who is white, as a “weak ass ni–a.”
“I called him a weak-ass f—— n—–,” he says. “That’s what I said.”
In a interview with Sports Illustrated — Anderson made a bold claim about how he stacks up with a legend in the game:
“I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson,” he says. “That’s huge to say. But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I’m getting to a point to where I need to change the game.”
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It should be noted that Anderson isn’t saying he is Robinson or will ever face the same obstacles the Hall of Famer did when he broke the color barrier in 1947.
The only barrier that Anderson says he is trying to break is the “have-fun barrier.”
That barrier includes batters being able to have their fun after hitting a home run without the threat of being hit the next time up as what happened against the Royals.
“I want to be that guy you don’t want to play against, because I’m a dog,” he says. “My team loves it, so I don’t care about anybody else. That’s what you get when you come to the South Side. We’re going out and trying to whoop your ass.”
“I’m bringing something to baseball that’s never been brought, as far as the swag,” he says. “I love fashion, and just being different, and bringing black culture to baseball and doing it in a different way, because today’s game is boring. . . . [After the bat flip,] a lot of people who don’t watch baseball, they actually gave me feedback, like, ‘Man, if this is going on in baseball, I better watch it.’ ”
