Giants manager Kapler kneels for anthem as team also make female coaching history
San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler and several of his players knelt during the national anthem before their 6-2 pre-season victory against the Oakland Athletics.
Also on Monday, Alyssa Nakken, became the first woman to coach onfield in a major league game, when she took over duties for the Giants at first base. Nakken joined San Francisco as an intern in 2014 before becoming the first full-time woman in a coaching position on a MLB team in January. She was a college softball star at Sacramento State from 2009 to 2012.
“Congratulations on making history!” Giants outfielder Hunter Pence posted on Twitter shortly after the final out.
Kapler shared his plans to kneel when he addressed the team earlier on Monday, and he said everyone would be supported by the Giants no matter what they decided to do.
“I wanted them to know that I wasn’t pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the black community and marginalized communities as well,” Kapler said.
“So I told them that I wanted to use my platform to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with the way we’ve handled racism in our country. I wanted to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with our clear systemic racism in our country and I wanted them to know that they got to make their own decisions and we would respect and support those decisions. I wanted them to feel safe in speaking up.”
Right fielder Jaylin Davis, who is African American, and first-base coach Antoan Richardson also took a knee as shortstop Brandon Crawford stood between them with a hand on each of their shoulders. Davis held his right hand over his heart, while Richardson, who is black and from the Bahamas, clasped his hands in front of him. Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater, who are white, also knelt.
Much discussion went into each person’s choice, and Kapler said some of the Giants reached out to other organizations. Kapler said the Giants would continue to have such important discussions together as a team and “make them a part of the fabric of our clubhouse.”
It was on the same field where former A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell in 2017 became the first major leaguer to kneel for the anthem.
In San Diego, Angels reliever Keynan Middleton kneeled and raised his right fist during the national anthem before the team’s 1-0 victory over the Padres.
Angels manager Joe Maddon said Middleton told him in advance he wanted to kneel, and the team was “totally supportive” of the decision.
“I’m very proud that he stood up for his beliefs tonight. I really am,” Maddon said. “It’s not easy to do that, a young man like himself, being the only one out here doing that.”