Giants join NBA, MLS, WNBA teams in postponing games in protest of racial injustice.
Show of unity: Giants, Dodgers opt not to play
Dave Roberts was not going to manage Wednesday night’s game. Mookie Betts was not going to play. As a result, in a show of unity, the Dodgers chose as a group not to take the field.
The Dodgers relayed their sentiments to the Giants hours before the scheduled 6:45 p.m. first pitch at Oracle Park, and Roberts said the Giants “were in lockstep with our thoughts.”
The game was postponed, making it the third Major League Baseball game called off in protest of Sunday’s police shooting in Kenosha, Wis., of Jacob Blake.
Twentyfive minutes before the scheduled first pitch, the Giants announced the game was called off.
“I did meet with our team, and our clubhouse continues to be united on the same things that we’ve been talking about, that
racial inequality is completely unacceptable,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
“I support every player, coach and person in our clubhouse, all of our staff, speaking out about our beliefs. And in those conversations, I encourage them to do so.”
The game is scheduled to be made up as part of a Thursday doubleheader starting at 1:05 p.m., each game lasting seven innings. Kapler said that’s the plan “as of right now.”
Kapler, speaking on Zoom with reporters at 7:30 p.m., said no formal vote was taken, just conversations taking place. No Giants players were made available to reporters after the postponement.
An hour before Kapler addressed the media, the Dodgers made three prominent players available on Zoom: Betts, Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen, along with Roberts, one of the majors’ two African American managers.
“Like Doc said,” Betts said of Roberts, “there’s a lot going on in the world. Change needs to be made. I have to use my platform to at least get the ball rolling. I talked to my teammates and told them how I felt, and they were all by my side.”
Kershaw, who was supposed to pitch Wednesday, expressed full support of Betts, an African American.
“As a white player on this team, how can we show our support? What’s something tangible we can do to help our Black brothers on this team?” Kershaw said. “Once Mookie said he wasn’t going to play, that started our conversation as a team on what we can do to support that. We felt the best thing we could do is support that in not playing.”
Kapler didn’t say whether he’d have managed if the game were played or whether players would have sat out. Though he avoided providing details of conversations in the clubhouse to avoid betraying players’ trust, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said on KNBR some players wanted to play for a variety of reasons.
Asked if the Giants would have played if a team other than the Dodgers were the opponent, Kapler said, “That’s an impossible question to answer because of all the variability that was going on today.
“The one thing I’ll say is we continue to support players’ rights to speak up and express themselves.”
The postponement was one of many across sports Wednesday to protest a police officer shooting Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back.
The movement began with the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to sit out their NBA playoff game against the Orlando Magic. The Brewers soon followed suit, opting not to take the field against the Reds.
The Mariners and Padres also voted not to play.
Kapler is the first manager to kneel during the national anthem — he continues to do so — and helped create an environment for players and coaches to take a knee as well. Among those who have knelt are Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater, Pablo Sandoval, Mauricio Dubón and Trevor Gott.
“Some things are just bigger than sports, and I don’t think it should require athletes boycotting playoff games to remind us Black lives matter and that police brutality is unacceptable and that systemic racism needs to be eliminated,” Kapler said to open his pregame media briefing. “What I believe in most is speaking out and taking strong action based on your beliefs.”
At 3:39 p.m., a big group of players and coaches began meeting for seven minutes in left field. Shortly thereafter, players from both teams, including those in the bullpens, came off the field and walked into their respective clubhouses.
At about that time, Kapler met near the dugout with Zaidi, general manager Scott Harris and reliever Tony Watson.
It quickly became clear there would be no baseball. After the game officially was called off, the teams released a short joint statement: “Throughout our country’s history, sport has been a powerful vehicle towards change. The Dodgers and Giants proudly join our players in the shared goal for a more equitable and just society.” John Shea covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey