Anderson on La Russa: 'It's OK to disagree'

White Sox shortstop and team leader Tim Anderson took a family view of the four-day-old discussion involving manager Tony La Russa and his critique of Yermín Mercedes swinging at a 3-0 pitch from Twins position player Willians Astudillo and homering with a 15-4 advantage in the ninth Monday.

“Tony is like the dad, we're like his kids,” Anderson said. “We're like the bad kids that don't listen. But we all get along. So we're just going to keep pushing and he knows. We're going to go out and play and have fun. The ultimate goal is to get wins and enjoy the game. Hopefully, we can just keep pushing and move on past this.

“We're not going to always agree, and that's OK. But we just keep moving and keep playing. And he knows that. We're not going to always be on the same page, but at the end of the day, we've all got to go out and get a win, and we've got to keep pushing. It's OK to disagree from each other, but we're all definitely pulling from the same string.”

• Discussing the Mercedes-Twins HR debate

Anderson wasn’t nearly as understanding of Tyler Duffey and the Twins, explaining how Duffey throwing behind Mercedes’ legs Tuesday and getting almost immediately ejected showed a definite sign of weakness for the Twins reliever and the Minnesota team. Duffey was suspended for three games by Major League Baseball, which was appealed down to two, while Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli served his one-game suspension Thursday in Anaheim.

La Russa smiled at Anderson’s father/son comparison during his Friday Zoom, adding how he made a point to explain the 3-0 deal to the clubhouse.

“Once they understood it, I think it's just a matter of opinion, but they knew where I was coming from and I was coming from a place that truly meant to protect our team,” La Russa said. “Any father would like being a dad of a son like Tim, because his bad just means he went from very, very good to just good. There's no bad with Tim.”

“Everybody's got an opinion. It don't matter,” Anderson said. “We're going to go out and play the way that we want to play. We're going to enjoy it and have fun with it. That's how we're at our best when we're enjoying the game. We don't really worry about the outside noise. We just take care and control what we can control.”

Mercedes entered Friday leading the Majors in hitting at .358 in his first extended playing time as a 28-year-old rookie.

“There’s really no right or wrong,” Anderson said. “But I think the biggest thing is really keep building his confidence. Just really show support to him, because at the end of the day, it’s really about us. We are trying to win. That’s really about it.”

Abreu hits 1,000
José Abreu finished 0-for-4 with two nice defensive plays at first base during a 2-1 walk-off loss to the Yankees on Friday, returning to the starting lineup after missing the Twins series victory due to left ankle inflammation. Abreu’s quick recovery should be of no surprise, with the first baseman playing and homering the next day after a violent collision with the Royals' Hunter Dozier on Dozier’s popup near home plate on May 14.

“I would have never thought he was going to play a day after the collision,” La Russa said. “But on the plane on Wednesday, the guys were in a good mood. They won a big game and there was a lot of, with the [Yoán] Moncada dress rehearsal there, which was a lot of fun, [Abreu] made it a point to do the dance in the aisle just to show, ‘I'll be ready Friday.’ There isn't anything this guy does that should surprise when it comes to being ready to help our team.”

“I started feeling the pain on the airplane, that Sunday. We got to the hotel and I couldn’t walk,” said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. “I told the trainers and we went to the ER in Minnesota. They did all the tests, and fortunately it wasn’t anything serious, just inflammation. From Monday on, my goal was to start playing today.”

Abreu’s start Friday marked career game No. 1,000 for him with the White Sox. He became the 29th player in White Sox history to hit that plateau and the 66th active MLB player.

“That's something that's not just for me,” Abreu said. “It's a lot of people involved in this. One thousand games is a lot."

Moncada wardrobe a team-wide hit
The “dress like Yoán Moncada” themed trip from Minneapolis to New York seemed to be a rousing success and a source of good fun for the White Sox.

“It was pretty dope. I’m going to have to put it in my regular wardrobe,” Anderson said. “We all bought in. We all did it. There’s no secret what we are trying to do. That says one thing: We are all-in.”

They said it
“It’s all about the last man standing. That’s the biggest thing. It’s easy to talk about it in the middle of it. We definitely want to be the last man standing. Who cares if they talk about [the team now]? We have to go out and get wins.” -- Anderson