Jeter, Marlins take personal approach to social issues
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter has made it known that he supports the cause for racial equality. His actions spoke loudly again this week when he volunteered with the Players Alliance in a community event.
Jazz Chisholm has made it clear on multiple occasions that Derek Jeter was one of the players he idolized growing up in the Bahamas. Since being traded to the Marlins organization in July 2019, Chisholm talks with Jeter on a regular basis.
On Tuesday, they worked side by side. Chisholm, the Marlins’ up-and-coming middle infield prospect and hopeful shortstop of the future, and Jeter, the Hall of
Fame shortstop and Marlins CEO, were among the two dozen current and former players who participated in the Players Alliance’s Pull Up Neighbor Tour stop at Overtown’s Gibson Park.
“I’ve been looking up to
Derek for years. I was a small kid watching him on TV and now finally getting to meet my icon and talking to him and watching him do this with me — I’m out here and I see him still out here showing his face and giving back to the community — it’s a reminder that everything’s bigger than baseball. I love that he’s still a downto-earth guy.”
The Players Alliance is a non-profit organization comprised of more than 150 active and former Major League Baseball players with a vision of creating “an inclusive culture within baseball and the community, where differences are leveraged to elevate racial equality and provide greater opportunities for the Black community, both in our game and the
places we live in, play in, and care about most.” Marlins players Chisholm, Monte Harrison and Lewis Brinson are all part of the organization.
Jeter has been vocal as part of the Marlins’ ownership group about players being involved in the community. He’s also one to make sure his actions
speak louder than his words. That’s why Players Alliance president Curtis Granderson respects that Jeter was willing to be part of the Players Alliance’s MLB club owner advisory committee.
“It’s been great to get insights from the owners
and executives that are currently in the game, in terms of how this thing is going to ultimately change,” Granderson said. “Everybody wants to see it. ... The biggest thing that everyone has to realize is change is going to come slow, but it has to come collectively. We as 150 players have a bunch of amazing ideas and thoughts of how we think that can move forward.
But we also need the help of other owners. We need the help of executives and the help of MLB. We need the help of the union.
They also need all of us as well. It’s one big puzzle. And once we get it all together, we can start to do this thing that everyone’s talking about and everybody wants to be natural.”
On Tuesday, Jeter spent about an hour passing out baseball gear, food and PPE supplies at a drive
thru distribution. He also spoke with a handful of baseball players from Everglades High School, who were given new bats, gloves and balls.
“It’s Derek Jeter. That’s what he is. He’s a man of his words and he’s a man of his actions,” Brinson said. “I wasn’t surprised to see him out here at all. I know he’s probably got a very busy schedule, but he showed his face, said hi to some kids, signed baseballs and hung out for a little bit. That’s what he’s always been about, trying to get back to the community, trying to make our community better. ... He’s always preached that to us.”
And this is far from the first time Jeter has used actions to back up his words.
The Marlins, prior to their home opener, placed a banner in center field of the “Black Lives Matter, United for Change” placard that general managers held up prior to the 2020 MLB Draft in June.
On Aug. 16, when MLB
celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues, the Marlins wore jerseys of the Miami Giants, a semipro baseball team in the 1930s that called Dorsey Park in the Overtown neighborhood of Miami their home field. The Giants faced many of the biggest stars in the Negro Leagues, including Hall of Famer Satchel Paige.
The Marlins postponed a road game against the New York Mets on Aug. 27 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Prior to the postponement, both the Marlins and Mets held a 42-second moment of silence — symbolic of Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 — before Brinson placed a “Black Lives Matter” tshirt on Citi Field’s home plate.
They donated $420,000 to establish a scholarship fund with the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
The organization has actively encouraged players to share their viewpoints and said players’ voices weren’t going to be
restricted as the Black Lives Matter movement continues to unfold.
“The front office here in Miami is one of the most diverse front offices in all of sports,” Jeter said earlier in the season. “We support racial equality.
The thing that I said before is I’m extremely optimistic and hopeful because we’re seeing so many people — not just the Black community, but all races, all nationalities — join the movement for racial equality. We stand with them.”
Harrison added: “I feel like, the talk has been talked about for a long time now. There need to be things that go into action, and around the Miami Marlins organization you’re starting to see it. And it’s not just our team. It’s multiple teams in the league and I feel like there’s definitely a change coming.”