Aug. 7—Major League Baseball has spoken: Jose Ramirez of the Guardians was suspended three games and Tim Anderson of the White Sox six games for the fight they got into Aug. 5 that resulted in Ramirez flattening Anderson with a right hook.
Both players are appealing the suspensions announced the afternoon of Aug. 7 before the Guardians hosted the Blue Jays and the White Sox hosted the Yankees. The appeal process means Ramirez and Anderson were both allowed to play in their respective games Aug. 7. No date for the appeals has been announced.
The fight sparked a 15-minute skirmish that emptied both benches and bullpens.
Manager Terry Francona answers questions about the suspensions handed out by MLB regarding the fight Saturday between @CleGuardians and the White Sox. pic.twitter.com/qL7Ek4Xsip
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) August 7, 2023
Additionally, Guardians manager Terry Francona and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol were each suspended one game, as were Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh. Francona and Clase each served their suspension Aug. 7. Sarbaugh will serve his suspension in the Aug. 8 game with Toronto.
“(Ramirez) is going to appeal,” Francona said in his pregame news conference. “My hope is that he can lower it because he’s such a good player. When something like that happens, you know there is going to be a price to pay.”
The longer Ramirez can put off his suspension, the better for the Guardians for a couple of reasons.
Josh Naylor, who leads the team with 79 RBI, is on the injured list with an oblique strain. He is eligible to be activated Aug. 11 when the Guardians start a three-game series with the Rays in Tampa, Fla. But there is no guarantee he will be cleared to play that soon.
Ramirez leads the team in home runs with 18 and is second in RBI with 65. Josh Bell, who was third on the Guards with 48 RBI, was traded to the Marlins last week for highly regarded minor league (High-A Lake County Captains) prospect Kahlil Watson.
That’s a lot of firepower that would be missing from a team that has difficulty scoring runs.
Also, the Guardians’ next nine games — four with the Blue Jays, three with the Rays and two with the Reds — are against teams that would be in the playoffs if the postseason began today.
Ramirez has never been suspended. He was an Indians rookie in 2013, the same year Francona took over as manager of the Indians. Ramirez has never even been ejected from a game, which might explain why his suspension was only half of the one given to Anderson. Michael Hill of MLB will hear the appeals.
“You always have your side of the story,” Francona said. “But there are two sides to things, so (Hill) has to listen to both.
“(Anderson’s suspension) is none of my concern. My concern is our guys.”
The Lake County Captains, where Ramirez began his career in minor league baseball in 2012 when he was 19 years old, are using the fight between Ramirez and Anderson for some unique promotions during a six-game homestand with the South Bend Cubs that begins Aug. 8 at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.
—Anyone with the first name of Tim (a nod to Tim Anderson) can get a free ticket to sit on the grass beyond the center field fence.
—Anyone wearing a Jose Ramirez jersey can get a free Bam Bam, which is the plastic thunder sticks fans bang together to inspire the home team to do great things.
The Captains announced the promotions on Twitter (@LCCCaptains) along with a Home Run Punch Derby and Punch Out Competition in the ’80s arcade.
Alan Miller, owner of the Captains, was contacted Aug. 7 to explain what a home run punch derby and punch out competition are.
“I can’t comment on those things at this time,” Miller said.
The Captains’ Twitter page also posted a picture of Ramirez in a Captains uniform with the message “If Cleveland won’t, we will…500 likes and we’ll build him a statue.”
A statue for Ramirez? Really?
“I cannot comment on that at this time,” Miller said in a text response.