LIKE THE "JACKIE" STORY OR NOT, IF YOU'RE IN MEDIA, YOU HAVE TO DISCUSS IT!

The story is ridiculous. I broke down the entire thing in ANALYSIS: DONALDSON AIMS TO MENTALLY BREAK PLAYERS... BUT THAT'S ABOUT IT.

When you got a guy like Tim Anderson saying he was "disrespected" for the name of a hero he anointed himself as, Jackie Robinson, you can't suddenly have your feelings hurt when else someone calls you it.  My opinion.

But these days in society, life is no longer about razzing and joking and ripping. It's about feelings... and it sucks. The world's gone soft.

Everyone these days has feelings and everyone's sensitive.  And the day Tim Anderson was called "Jackie" was the day he ran into a guy that was just that Big Oaf. That Bull in a China shop. I mean, think about Josh Donaldson for a moment. He is the poster boy for giving players mental breakdowns with his constant razzing. He is the finger in your eye and the guy that will put you on display for the world to see because he loves to cause trouble.  And the other day he met his match with the "feelings police" and Tim Anderson. 

Interpret "Jackie" however you want, but no one liked it in Chicago... many didn't in New York, and MLB? They were forced to "investigate" because that's what we do now.   All that said, if you are a media person or a baseball person, you may not wanna talk about it, but you gotta.

Today more fallout. Donaldson received a suspension from the MLB.  The Chicago Tribune writes:

"Donaldson received a one-game suspension and undisclosed fine Monday for what Major League Baseball described as “inappropriate comments” made to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium.

“There is no dispute over what was said on the field,” Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said in a statement. “Regardless of Mr. Donaldson’s intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment..."

It is what it is, and everyone can now move on, I guess.  But remember this the next time you think you're being funny or clever or sarcastic. You can't do that anymore. In fact... don't even talk.  

And speaking of not talking, as I stated before, right now as ridiculous as it is, it's the hottest story out there. Media will talk about it even though they don't want to, and sports guys and baseball people should too.  It's the way the media is. Just like this Johnny Depp trial. You may not love it, but if you're a show that covers the courtroom, you're doing it wall to wall and most likely if you like that stuff, you're watching... it's everywhere. 

Paul O'Neill was supposed to be on with Brandon Tierney and Tiki Barber to talk about his book. And because the story is still white hot, they were going to ask about Donaldson. Well apparently, O'Neill didn't want anything to do with that.

The New York Post writes:

“We were supposed to have him on right now and he is on hold, OK,” said Tierney, who listed O’Neill as his second favorite all-time Yankee after Don Mattingly.

“He has a new book coming out, called, ‘Swing and a Hit.’ And Jack Curry wrote it, along with Paul. We were told and Tiki, you don’t even know this because I was going through this while you were finishing up your thought on the air. We were told we can not ask anything about Donaldson and Anderson.

“I said, ‘We can’t do the interview if that is the case.’ I said, ‘Please tell Paul, we will navigate this responsibly. We will not belabor it. But I can’t have Paul O’Neill on the show after we spent an hour and 35 minutes talking about Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson and not ask him about what transpired. That sucks..."

It does suck. 

Look, O'Neill's a legend. No one better for me, but stories like this need opinions from everyone. Next week? No. Now when it's hot? For sure.  If Jack Curry were on, he'd answer the questions.  Alot of people would.  You may feel icky about it, you might not want to throw anyone under the bus but if the question was asked, at least say "No comment", or "I wasn't there, I don't know what I can really say about it."  No one is bigger than a media question about the hottest story of the past 24 hours... No one. 

And the be honest, as a blogger and journalist, I think it was a great move by Tierney to cancel Paulie.  We'll all still read the book, we love the O'Neill, but media is where we formulate decisions and new ideas, and clearly Paulie didn't want any part of it.

Look, at the end the day, the story is stupid. And the punishment? Weird. To quote Keith McPherson on MLB Network today....

Tim Anderson was suspended one game for calling an opposing player the N word

Tim Anderson was suspended one game for giving fans the middle finger

Josh Donaldson picked the wrong guy, wrong name, wrong time to talk sht. One game. He's already out. Appeal it. Lets move forward

— Keith McPherson (@Keith_McPherson) May 23, 2022