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A brawl broke out during the sixth innings of the game between the White Sox and the Guardians on Saturday. Players Tim Anderson and Jose Ramirez got into an altercation when Ramirez got into second base by sliding under Anderson’s legs. Though Ramirez was called safe, a dispute over the incident led to the pair squaring off while the umpire tried his best to separate the two-star players and prevent the fight.
After Ramirez slid into second base and hit an RBI double, Anderson was livid and began a confrontation. The situation quickly escalated when Ramirez pointed a finger in Anderson’s face and the two squared off. Anderson threw the first punch which caused Ramirez to retaliate and the pair to trade blows. Unfortunately for Anderson, it was Ramirez who landed the knockout blow. While the fight continued it got more and more heated and players from both teams got involved as it became nearly impossible to bring the situation under control for the officials. A funny moment transpired when Guardians commentator Tom Hamilton began commentating on the fight and said, “Anderson down!” repeatedly when the player was first knocked to the ground.
Cleveland manager Terry Francona, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh, Emmanuel Clase, along and Chicago manager Pedro Grifol were all forced to leave the pitch and ejected as a result of their participation in the brawl.
Ramirez says Anderson’s excessive tagging the cause of tensions
Ramirez later explained that throughout the game Anderson was tagging players too hard, which was the cause of the flaring tensions. There was an especially egregious moment when Anderson hit Guardians’ rookie Brayan Rocchio so hard that his hand slipped off second base.
Ramirez said, "As soon as the play happened, he tapped me again really hard, more than needed. And then his reaction was like 'I want to fight' and if he wanted to fight I had to defend myself. I felt I was able to land one."
Both Anderson and Ramirez are going to face extended suspensions from the MLB. Anderson in particular, is likely to face a heavy punishment for not only instigating a fight but also for continuing to fight others after Ramirez, getting into a fight with other Guardians players.
