Chicago White Sox' Tim Anderson Criticizes Fans, Media After 2022 Season

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson voiced his frustration with fans and media alike in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago's Chuck Garfien earlier this week, calling for fans and media members to be more positive when discussing the White Sox in 2023.

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson voiced his frustration with fans and media alike in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago's Chuck Garfien earlier this week.

Garfien hosts the White Sox Talk Podcast. In an episode Tuesday, he spoke with Anderson.

After stringing together back-to-back winning seasons and playoff berths, the White Sox greatly disappointed in 2022, finishing 81-81 and failing to reach the postseason. The White Sox were heavy preseason favorites entering the season, but finished with 12 fewer wins than they posted in 2021. Now, under new manager Pedro Grifol, the White Sox hope to turn the page from a forgettable 2022, and return atop the division in 2023.

"The plan is we know not to do what we did last year," Anderson said. "So there's a lot of room to grow. And just a lot of confusion. A lot of people pulling from different angles, not just in the clubhouse, but fans as well, little bit of everybody."

A conversation with ⁦@TimAnderson7⁩.

Things got real about last season.

White Sox Talk Podcast! 🎙🎧🌵https://t.co/NZkLwcFUn6 pic.twitter.com/33yvt49d2P

— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) February 22, 2023

Obviously, fans were disappointed after entering the season with lofty expectations and failing to reach the postseason. The White Sox have only made two trips to the playoffs since 2008 and went the entire 2010s without a postseason berth.

Anderson then continued, directing some of his frustration in the direction of Garfien, who covers the White Sox on NBC Sports Chicago.

"If you're a part of this, and you're like, one of our supporters, and you see somebody struggling, you know, if you see your wife struggling, you're going to pat her on the back, right?" Anderson said. "So that's kind of one of those things. If we're under the same umbrella, we should all be pulling from the same screen, and not tearing each other down. And not tearing players down. We don't tear you down. So I just think it's one of those things. We gotta support each other. We support you. We make ourselves (accessible) to you, you know, when you talk to us. So it's just kind of one of those things where we all gotta be on a positive screen... I think we can be better as a whole."

Garfien challenged Anderson's suggestion that he was 'tearing down' White Sox players.

"Was I tearing you down?" Garfein asked.

"No, you weren't tearing me down," Anderson said. "You were just causing a lot of confusion. You gotta think about it. Fans listen to you. You talk. We don't talk. We just play. If we're putting out positive energy, that positive energy is going to always follow us. You know what I'm saying?"

Garfien wasn't hired by NBC Sports to be a cheerleader. He is a sports reporter. Reporters and journalists are not public relations specialists for teams. The idea that Garfien was too negative about the White Sox last year is a rather surprising claim, as he has a reputation of generally carrying a rather positive outlook when it comes to the Sox.

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