“I fought to try to get back. I fought for the last two or three years. I trained and just couldn’t get the body to operate like it used to,” on Monday morning, Tim Anderson shared an emotional moment with the reporters as he announced his retirement. But that almost immediately took us back to his walk-off homer moment with the Chicago White Sox.

Anderson knew he had done it as soon as he made contact with the New York Yankees southpaw Zack Britton’s throw on August 12, 2021. His two-run homer in the ninth inning lifted the White Sox to victory over the Yankees. But a career whose defining moment could have been the walk-off home run in the inaugural Field of Dreams game would instead be remembered for an in-game fight that saw TA7 knocked to the ground. And Anderson probably can never escape it.

“Tim Anderson announces he is retiring after 10 MLB seasons,” B/R Walk-off reported on X.

The centerpiece of the Chicago White Sox’s ‘Change the Game’ campaign, shortstop Tim Anderson’s MLB career came to a close over a Zoom call. After spending a decade in the big leagues, Anderson has revealed that the game brings him too much pain to continue.

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“As you can see, the game [brought] a lot of good moments,” Anderson told the reporters, per The Athletic. “But it also [brought] a lot of pain. It gives me anxiety just even … talking about baseball. I’m sweating now.

“I want to be as open as I can. The game brought a lot of pain, a lot of great moments, but just throughout playing, it definitely was a lot of dark moments.”

The Chicago White Sox selected Anderson as their number 17 pick in the 2013 MLB Draft out of East Central Community College in Mississippi. He debuted with the team in 2016 and spent the first eight seasons of his career in Chicago. Despite being a basketball player and not taking baseball seriously until his late teen years, he won the batting title in 2019 with a .335 BA. Anderson became the face of the White Sox’s rebuild, being the third overall and first to win the award since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas in 1997.

His rookie MLB season became a breakthrough: .283/.306/.432 slash line with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and 10 stolen bases in 99 games, finishing seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Through 2022, he had 3,129 at-bats in 772 games, recording 900 hits, 97 home runs, and a .288 AVG. But the grind of a baseball season is real, when major leaguers have to play even with mental exhaustion.

The 33-year-old was definitely not an exception.

In 2017, Anderson played a full season despite being heartbroken after his close friend was sh-t dead in Alabama. He has also spoken about having a child out of wedlock and going through therapy with his wife, Bria, on a 2023 podcast.

Despite the difficult moments, Anderson’s campaign in Chicago was successful. He helped the team secure its first division title in 2021 since 2008. In the previous pandemic-shortened season, the White Sox made it to the playoffs.

Anderson also became an All-Star twice with the White Sox, starting as the AL shortstop in 2022. However, a groin injury limited him to only 79 games. He was hitting .301 that season. After 2022, Anderson’s production never became the same, and then came the fateful day in 2023.

On August 5, 2023, José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians slid headfirst into second base for a double. He felt a heavy tag from Anderson and took exception, sparking a heated argument. The exchange then quickly escalated, causing the two to drop their gloves and square off in boxing style. Both players threw punches, with Anderson getting knocked down.

The benches were cleared, and it took almost 14 minutes to restore order in the game. The then-White Sox 1B Andrew Vaughn had to pick up Anderson and carry him toward the dugout to keep the brawl from escalating.

The whole incident ended in TA7 receiving a 6-game suspension along with an undisclosed fine. He was even tested for a concussion later, but the reports were all okay.

“I was going through s–t before that moment… Moments happen, something you got to live with… I understood a lot of things in that moment, who really is your teammate, who got you back…,” Anderson shared in a 2025 interview on Foul Territory.

While the then-Sox pitcher Michael Kopech and Vaughn kind of became the peacemakers of that brawl, manager Pedro Grifol, GM Rick Hahn, along with almost the entire front office and the Sox players, reportedly never showed their support to Tim.

In 2023, Anderson was already suffering from a left knee sprain from April, and then there was right shoulder soreness that kept deteriorating his performance throughout the season. Since then, the former shortstop could never get back to his form.

In the following year, the White Sox parted ways with Anderson, who signed with the Miami Marlins. And with that, the White Sox’s overall record became abysmal.

In 2024, Chicago finished dead last in the AL Central, with a 41-121 record, and in 2025, it stood at 60-102. Compare it with 2021, when the Sox held a 93-69 record, and in 2022, it was 81-81.

Plagued by injuries, Anderson only played 65 games in 2024. He last played in 2025 for the Los Angeles Angels before they released him in May.

From 2023 to 2025, Tim Anderson’s stats read like this: 219 games, 810 AB, 188 H, 1 HR (pre-fight), .232 AVG. But right now, all he’s looking forward to is “really living a real life, because life is bigger than trying to make people happy with a bat and a ball,” because there once was a time when he “kept going… Nobody knows what I sacrificed and what the body felt every day.” And we have seen that struggle in players throughout the years.

Eliezer Alfonzo made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers this July, just the next day after receiving the news of losing his sister, Eliana, and stepmother, Patricia, in the Venezuelan earthquake.

“Honestly, it was a little difficult, but at the same time, thanking God always for everything,” Alfonzo shared after the game.

Now, Tim Anderson walks away from Major League Baseball with a career hitting average of .276, 98 homers, 350 RBIs and a .714 OPS. As the news of his retirement broke, fans recalled his time as a player.

Fans recall Anderson’s career-altering fight post-retirement

When the news of Anderson’s retirement broke, one fan wrote, “I’d say thanks for the memories, but Tim Anderson probably doesnt have many after Jose Ramirez gave him the 1 hitter quitter.”

With the Marlins, Anderson recorded a .214 AVG in 2024, and a .205 AVG in 2025 with the Angels. The decline was evident.

“Crazy fact: Tim Anderson never hit a HR again after getting punched by Jose Ramirez,” wrote another.

Referring to the famous fistfight, a user joked, “Maybe he’ll pursue a boxing career.”

Then, another remembered his unforgettable walk-off homer.

“Say what you want. I will NEVER forget where I was when he hit that walk-off homer at the Field of Dreams game,” wrote the fan.

“Wtf happend to him. He was supposed to be the prototype modern SS, the new face of the White Sox. Damn dude,” remarked a fan.

While lower body and leg injuries hampered his return to form, Tim Anderson was definitely a face of the new generation. For years, there was a decline in numbers for African-American baseball stars until TA7. Because of that legacy, the Chicago White Sox will honor him before their September 17 game against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field. [That is the day right after their series against the Guardians – coincidence?] Anderson is scheduled to throw the first pitch and the team will wear “Southside” alternate jerseys that he helped make famous.

“I am Chicago. I will rock the gear. Just because I’m playing for them doesn’t mean I won’t rock it. I’ll rock it more now,” Tim Anderson had shared with The Athletic in 2021.

To end, fans will definitely hope TA7 returns to his franchise in some way or the other. And the hints are definitely there…