White Sox announcers, MLB Network analysts sharply disagree on Glenn Sparkman ejection

Glenn Sparkman said the pitch got away from him. Ned Yost let it be known the Royals had no animosity toward White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

Nevertheless, Sparkman was ejected Wednesday night for hitting Anderson in the helmet with a pitch in the second inning of the Royals’ 8-7 loss at Chicago. There’s a history here of course. Last month, Anderson hit a home run off Brad Keller and flipped his bat in an effort to fire up his teammates.

Later in that game, Anderson was beaned by a fastball in the backside. The benches cleared and there were bad feelings on both sides.

That was the mind of home-plate umpire Mark Carlson, who tossed Sparkman.

Was it an accident? Purposeful? Does that matter? Opinions varied.

White Sox announcer Jason Benetti said: “What do you expect the umpires to do? This guy was involved in a melee. The Royals hit him last time, then he hits him again. Whether it’s intentional or not, they made their bed.”

Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, however, thought the umpires made a mistake by not reversing the call.

“It’s a reaction,” Girardi said on the MLB Network. “I don’t have a problem with the reaction by the umpire. We just saw the guy, a 95 mph fastball at his head. Now there’s another ball at someone’s head and hits him in the bill of the cap. But umpires ought to be able to get together and reverse it. Let’s reverse. It was a change-up.”

While Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler said it was a mistake pitch, ESPN’s Keith Law blasted the Royals announcers.

This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 9:47 AM.