“Anderson was trying to fight, and I had to defend myself.”
Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians explains what led to the scuffle 메이저놀이터.
Ramirez was ejected in the bottom of the sixth inning of a Major League Baseball (MLB) game against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, after getting into a fistfight with opposing second baseman Tim Anderson.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ramirez hit a double down the right field line with one out. On his way to second, he made a head-first slide under the legs of Tim Anderson, who was covering second base, and was ruled safe. Anderson’s quick, “hard” tag on Ramirez’s back on a grounder to right field was too late.
Ramirez then shouted at Anderson and an argument ensued. A scuffle ensued, with Anderson removing his gloves, taking up boxing itself, and throwing punches at Ramirez. After a few punches were exchanged, Ramirez’s hook caught Anderson in the jaw and sent him down.
Bench-clearing ensued between the two teams, and the altercation lasted more than 10 minutes before ending in a flurry of ejections. Ramirez and Anderson were ejected, as well as White Sox manager Pedro Griffol, Cleveland manager Terry Francona, Cleveland third base coach Mike Sabo, and Cleveland pitcher Immanuel Clase.
According to the Associated Press, after the game, Ramirez said, “Anderson has been acting disrespectful for a while in the game, and I don’t think he should be doing anything on the bases, so I told him, ‘Stop it.’ But he said he wanted to fight, so I had to defend myself,” he said, explaining the circumstances of the scuffle.
“I don’t know exactly why they got into a fight, but Anderson was stopped by the umpire for yelling at (Cleveland rookie) Gabriel Arias before the game,” Francona said. He added that Anderson had a history of shoving Brian Rocchio (Cleveland) out of the way of his arm as he entered second base in the previous day’s game, according to the Associated Press. The series of actions apparently led to Ramirez’s anger and a brawl.
Anderson reportedly walked off the field without saying anything after the game. However, White Sox manager Griffol said that “a lot of players were upset” and “we’re going to make sure the MLB office has the correct facts.” “It was a very disorderly situation,” MLB.com reported, “and the commissioner’s office will issue discipline to the bench-clearing parties.”