Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox and José Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians have been disciplined for their leading roles in the Saturday brawl between the two teams. Here are all the suspensions and fines as announced Monday afternoon by Major League Baseball:
Anderson suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount.Ramírez suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount.Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount.Guardians manager Terry Francona suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount.Guardians third base coach Mike Sarbaugh suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount.White Sox manager Pedro Grifol suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount.White Sox righty Michael Kopech and Guardians infielder Gabriel Arias each fined an undisclosed amount.Anderson and Ramírez have appealed their suspensions and are eligible to play in the interim. Clase has elected not to appeal and will serve his suspension Monday, when the Guardians open a four-game home series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Francona and Grifol will serve their suspensions Monday as well. Sarbaugh will serve his suspension Tuesday.
The brawl was touched off in the sixth inning when Ramirez slid into second base on an RBI double. Anderson was covering the bag and stood over Ramirez after applying the tag. That led to an exchange of words, and that in turn led to the throwing of punches. One of those punches, a wild right hook from Ramirez, flattened Anderson just as players from both sides intervened:
In all, the mayhem lasted 15 minutes with multiple incidents after the initial one. Anderson himself charged back on the field long after being ejected, but teammate Andrew Vaughn physically removed him. Six people were ejected, including Anderson and Ramirez.
"I think he's (Anderson) been disrespecting the game for a while," Ramirez said after the game. "I was telling him to stop doing that. After he tapped me really hard, more than needed, he said he wanted to fight and I had to defend myself."
Anderson left the ballpark after being removed from the field and as such was not available for questions after the game concluded.
Ramírez played in the series finale on Sunday, going 1 for 3 in a 5-3 loss. Anderson was held out of the lineup Sunday.
While the White Sox are not contenders, the Guardians are still within range of the AL Central lead despite a below-.500 record and a seller's approach leading up to the recent deadline. As such, the loss of Ramirez, easily the best hitter on a weak Cleveland offense, is notable, particularly with a challenging stretch of schedule ahead.
