MLB brawl: Jose Ramirez opens up about the fight between him and Tim Anderson, says 'I had to defend myself'

During the Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago White Sox game, Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson started a brawl on Saturday night. In the sixth inning, Ramirez and Anderson fought after Ramirez hustled into second base on a double.

Before they were separated, punches were thrown after both players got in each other's faces. However, Ramirez later said that he had no intentions of fighting:

“He’s been disrespecting the game for a while. When he does something like that on the bases, he can get somebody out of the game. So 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.”

Ramirez is not renowned for actively seeking out conflicts with opponents. He's a pretty level-headed player, which made this situation even more unfortunate.

Jose Ramirez's career accomplishments

Jose Ramrez is a third baseman with the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball (MLB). On November 26, 2009, he made his amateur free agent signing with the Indians. On September 1, 2013, he made his MLB debut.

Jose Ramirez played second base, shortstop and left field in addition to his traditional third base position in 2016. He achieved then-career highs of a .312 batting average, 46 doubles and 22 stolen bases. Additionally, he played a vital role in the Indians' first World Series participation in 19 years. As a result, Jose Ramirez was given the Bob Feller Man of the Year Award for the first time, and he did so again in 2021. This award is the equivalent of the team's MVP.

Ramirez has been chosen for the MLB All-Star Game five times, has won the Silver Slugger Award four times and has been named to the All-MLB Team once. He led the major leagues in doubles in 2017 and became the 19th player in history to accomplish this feat.