Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer off Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito on Tuesday night, and appeared to say “Hand’s not sticky anymore; it’s not sticky anymore” while crossing home plate. That’s in reference to Major League Baseball’s recent foreign substance ban, so Donaldson basically implied that Giolito can’t use sticky substances any longer and is losing effectiveness as a result.
And during the postgame press conference, Giolito went off, referring to to Donaldson as “classless” and a “fucking pest.” Giolito also said, “If you’re going to talk shit, talk shit to my face.”
Well, Donaldson addressed the situation before Wednesday night’s game, and said that he and Giolito had a chat about all this in the parking lot late on Tuesday night. Donaldson claims he said, “I’m in your face, what do you have to say about that?” Giolito, according to Donaldson, “didn’t have a response” to that line.
“If we’re going to talk about class, what side are you going to choose? Are you going to take the side of somebody who’s playing the game fair? Or are you going to take the side of someone who probably cheated?”
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) June 30, 2021
“My intention was not to show up Lucas Giolito, but he took it that way. … He has a problem with what he said on the field, and I have a problem with what he has to say in the Zoom room. And that’s OK. We’re not supposed to like each other. He’s on another team.”
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) June 30, 2021
Then came Wednesday night’s game. And in the first inning, Donaldson blasted another dinger, before getting a long look at it and bat-flipping. He heard it from White Sox fans as he rounded the bases.
Dylan Cease won the battle with a strikeout in the third inning and stared down Donaldson before strutting off the mound.
So, this Donaldson vs White Sox feud is certainly entertaining and doesn’t appear to be going away soon.