TIME TO BE HEARD
Boycotts continue for second day across pro leagues
MLB players extended their strike for social justice to a second day, as six more games were postponed in the wake of a movement that has touched every major sports league in the country.
Games between the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks were not played as scheduled Thursday.
The six called-off games brings to 18 the number of MLB teams joining in solidarity with the NBA by sitting out in protest of police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police shooting of Jacob Blake in the back.
In announcing Thursday’s postponement, the A’s included a message from their players that ended: “We will not take the field tonight to help raise awareness for these social issues, not just tonight, but for our collective future. This is the first step in our relentless pursuit for meaningful change.”
The Phillies held an afternoon players-only meeting at their hotel and, by around 2 p.m., first baseman Rhys Hoskins called manager Joe Girardi
and said they decided not to play. Girardi phoned Nationals manager Dave Martinez shortly thereafter with the news, he said in a joint video conference with the teams Thursday.
“I immediately said I’d support him and his players,” Martinez said. “This is a brotherhood.
Twins players voted not to play Thursday, and the team statement regarding the postponement cited the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, which energized a social justice movement at a time the baseball industry was shut down.
It was the Brewers – based about 40 miles from Kenosha, and following the lead of the Milwaukee Bucks – who first decided to sit out, with the Reds supporting their decision Wednesday evening.
WNBA
For the second consecutive day, the WNBA postponed its slate of three games scheduled for Thursday as the league’s players “continue discussion and reflection on recent events.”
“We stand in solidarity with our brothers in the NBA and will continue this conversation with our brothers and sisters across all leagues and look to take collective action. What we have seen over the last few months and most recently with the brutal police shooting of Jacob Blake is overwhelming,” the Atlanta Dream’s Elizabeth Williams said.
– Steve Gardner
MLS
Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen expressed “profound disappointment” in his team’s decision, along with the Los Angeles Galaxy, to not play its game Wednesday night, as pro sports teams across the country protested the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Appearing on the radio station X96, which he also owns, on Thursday, Hansen made his feelings clear. “It’s a moment of sadness,” he said on the “Radio From Hell” program. “It’s like somebody stabbed you and you’re trying to figure out a way to pull the knife out and move forward. That’s what it feels like. The disrespect was profound to me personally.”
Five of the six scheduled MLS games did not happen Wednesday. OrlandoNashville was the only match that kicked off.
Not only did Hansen disagree with the players’ decision, he insinuated the protest discourages him from investing his money in the team.
In a statement released Thursday evening, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said he strongly disagreed with Hansen’s comments and that the league was committed to the “pursuit of racial equality and social justice.”