A more open Tim Anderson embraces retirement ceremony

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- Tim Anderson probably is the lone carpool driver within the Atlanta region who has won an American League batting title.

Such is the transition to full-time family life the electric baseball talent now enjoys at age 33.

In fact, when I texted him Tuesday about a possible interview, he quickly agreed but added it had to be later in the day. Those family duties were filling up the agenda.

“Yeah, I like this life,” Anderson told me during our 15-minute phone conversation. “It’s more chill, more quiet, more peaceful. But I mean, that’s just a part of anybody that retires.

“This is good. This is cool. I also get to network, be around and get to be hands-on, and I get to go just be a real businessman.”

Today, Anderson returns to his Major League Baseball beginning at Rate Field to celebrate his baseball end and to be honored at the heart of the franchise’s Return of the Southside ballpark program. He announced his retirement via Zoom on Aug. 10 after playing from 2016-25 and suiting up for the White Sox for 895 of his 991 games.

Anderson was an American League All-Star in 2021 and started at shortstop for the AL All-Stars in 2022. That batting title he holds over other parents picking up their kids after school came via a .335 average in ’19.

His Field of Dreams "stalk-off" home run to beat the Yankees on Aug. 12, 2021, in Dyersville, Iowa, stands as the most iconic non-postseason moment of the last White Sox rebuild.

“Was I a good player? I think I was a great player throughout my era,” said Anderson, showing off some of the quiet bravado and confidence that made him a star. “Of course, when I was bad, I was bad. But when I was doing things, I was great. It was good. It was different.

“Winning the batting title, not too many people, especially being on the South Side, being a Black guy that did win that. That’s very inspirational to a kid on the South Side, a guy who looked like him.

“Just a lot of different stuff and a lot of different things that were motivation for the kids in that community and for the culture,” Anderson added. “A lot of different things that a lot of people got to see. Baseball was different, for sure, when I was playing.”

It was a quick climb to the top for Anderson, whose bat flips following home runs became national news and even inspired an entertaining SoxFest kids’ clinic.

His fall was equally quick, although a bit more startling. After he dealt with a left hand injury in ’22 and a left knee sprain in '23, he never regained close to top form. His final comeback attempt covered 31 games and 90 plate appearances for the ’25 Angels, opening the season on the road in Chicago to a warm Rate Field ovation.

That return trip didn't count as much as this week's event will in Anderson’s mind.

“I was there with the Angels, but it didn’t feel right,” said Anderson with a laugh, adding he would have preferred to spend his career with the White Sox. “Being on the other side, it just didn’t feel right.

“They also don’t do this type of stuff for everybody. I’m understanding what’s going on. I’m going to soak it all in and I'm excited to be back on the South Side for sure. It’s definitely cool.”

There will be quite a support system for Anderson in Chicago. That group includes his wife, Bria, his kids (aged 10, 7, 3 and 2), his mom and dad, his mother-in-law, his brother and his brother's kids.

“A lot of people weren’t there to see this journey for real, because I had a lot of life things going on behind baseball with life and family,” said Anderson. “They weren’t there when I opened that door.

“Throughout time we corrected, cleaned up and understood some things about what’s going on in life. At least they get to be there to close the chapter with me.”

White Sox family members also will be present, as will members from Youth Guidance and McCartin Boys and Girls Club, specific programs Tim and Bria worked with when he was playing. Let’s not forget a plethora of White Sox fans celebrating their shortstop and their current AL Central leaders.

Anderson figures this on-field retirement is for good, although he has talked with Niko Goodrum, his friend and former Major Leaguer, about “pushing the game forward” through a youth baseball initiative. He laughed again when guaranteeing a strike with his ceremonial first pitch, reminding me of some of his long throws from the outfield grass.

It was a stark contrast to the emotional Anderson talking about the joy and pain of baseball during his retirement Zoom.

“I’m definitely soaking it in, trying to be more open,” Anderson said. “I’m so private. I never really show my emotions. So, I’m just really trying to let people in on how I really feel.”