A’s and Astros stand up against racial injustice
West rivals protest, will play game later
For a second consecutive day — this time on the day designated by Major League Baseball to honor Jackie Robinson — the A’s did not play Friday as their scheduled game in Houston was postponed in a demonstration against racial injustice.
Manager Bob Melvin said the Astros approached the A’s before the teams’ series opener at Minute Maid Park about a postponement
and: “We were totally supportive of it. We did the same thing the night before. … It’s another day of silent protest.”
Ten majorleague games were postponed between Wednesday and Thursday as the sporting world reacted to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. The Astros did not have games scheduled for either day and thus were not involved in those demonstrations. The A’s chose not to play Thursday’s game at Texas amid the protests.
On Friday, both the A’s and Astros took the field for pregame ceremonies wearing the No. 42 jerseys reserved for MLB’s annual commemoration of Robinson breaking the color barrier on April 15, 1947 — with this year’s celebration delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both teams lined up for the national anthem and Melvin and Astros manager Dusty Baker met at home plate with umpires as usual before the Astros’ starters took the field. Players on both teams then emerged from their dugouts and lined the warning track dirt.
The teams observed an extended moment of silence, holding their hats, before departing the field. A “Black Lives Matter” Tshirt was left on home plate with an A’s and an Astros jersey in the batter’s box on either side. Members of both teams waved or extended their caps toward the other side, a different visual than their previous meeting, one in Oakland that involved a benchesclearing incident.
“Baseball is a brotherhood and no more so than right now,” Melvin said. “So, no thought about when we played them last time. Just sympathy for the situation and total understanding. Everybody just tipped their caps to each other knowing what’s at stake here tonight. And then we get back on the field and play tomorrow.”
The A’s and Astros will play a doubleheader Saturday, Melvin said, which will consist of two seveninning games. The teams are first and second in the AL West, with the A’s holding a 41⁄2game lead entering this weekend’s series.
Before the game, Baker, the former Giants manager in his first season managing Houston, told Astros reporters a postponement would be “something that can’t come from me necessarily, it has to be something that the players feel in their hearts to do.” Baker has spoken up previously about racial inequity and told reporters Friday the message has often fallen on deaf ears.
“For years, we’ve been having Jackie Robinson Day and it’s been kind of squashed under the rug and we don’t talk about it until next year,” Baker said. “Or African American history month, we make a big deal out of it and then you sweep it under the rug and you talk about it next year. Until people put their money where their mouth is, you’re really wasting my time.
“I love what the basketball players are doing, the hockey players. They’re putting their money where their mouth is. I’m proud of these young people in America because they’re doing something about it.”
Also Friday, A’s second baseman Tony Kemp said he is among majorleague players donating their salaries from Thursday and Friday through the Players’ Alliance — a group started this year by current and former Black majorleaguers — to initiatives helping to fight racial injustice. Kemp said all players can contribute and he is hopeful some funds raised will be directed to Oakland.
Kemp, on a video call Friday afternoon, said reaction to the A’s decision to postpone Thursday’s game had been mostly positive. “I think people really understand that this is bigger than sports right now,” he said. “These issues that are going on in the world just can’t be ignored right now.
“Hopefully a kid asked their parents what’s going on right now, why is there no baseball,” Kemp said. “And they have a real conversation with their kid of what’s going on in America. And that’s where it starts. Because this generation is being able to speak up and the players are understanding how big their voices are right now. We have huge platforms, why not use them.”
On Wednesday, the Brewers and Reds announced MLB’s first postponement as Mike Fiers was getting ready to start for the A’s at Texas. Fiers said he told teammates he was “backing them up whatever they want to do — I was fine not pitching that day.” After playing, the A’s made a “group decision” to not play Thursday, Fiers said.
“We all talked about it, had a great conversation,” Fiers said. “There are topics that are touchy and not comfortable. But we talked about it like men and came to a conclusion of not playing.”
Fiers noted the A’s have three Black players in Kemp, Marcus Semien and Khris Davis and that: “I don’t think every team has the guys to talk to like we have with Marcus and Tony and KD. I think that’s why we’re so close is we’re very multicultural here, we have so many backgrounds and guys that are willing to talk. It does get tough at times, but these guys know how to handle it.”
The timing with Jackie Robinson Day falling on Friday resonated with Kemp, who said that as a sixthgrader he did a class project on Robinson.
“I told the guys, I said look, ‘We’re all activists, whether you like it or not, that’s making a stance,’” Kemp said. “I was on Twitter and I saw, I think it was Jackie Robinson’s daughter, saying that he would be proud to see what we’ve been doing. And that’s what it’s all about. Being able to give people hope that these issues can end and we can be better as a nation.”