MLB: Coaches, players donating Friday’s salaries to Players Alliance
a burden to be asked to lead in discussions. He said one of baseball’s best qualities is its diversity with a mix of white, Black and Hispanic players and that people can learn from each other, even if answers aren’t always clear.
“People want to know what’s next, want to know the answers,” McCutchen said. “It’s OK to not have the answers, it’s OK to not know what’s next. What’s not OK is not caring what’s next.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone broke down in tears during a media briefing and left the room when he was asked about his two Black adopted sons Friday. He returned a few minutes later, still shaken.
“I would just say, I know I’m talking to a lot of people out there, it’s a hard, heavy year, and a heartbreaking year in so many ways,” Boone said. “For my family, too. But I think that’s the case for a lot of people of all different backgrounds and races.
“My prayer is just that we can continue to, even though we’re going through some dark times, at the end of this, we’re better for it. That’s my continued prayer.”
Boone was emotional throughout the briefing, saying he had spent the previous hour talking to Yankees players about protests in recent days. New York was off Thursday and has not opted out of any games.
Boone and San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler also said they will donate their Friday salary to The Players Alliance, a group of more than 100 current and former Black major leaguers working to combat racial injustice. The Players Alliance made a video tribute on social media thanking Robinson that included past and present Black MLB players like Mookie Betts, Curtis Granderson, David Price, Jason Heyward, Torii Hunter, Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder.
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell, who is Black, was among the players who also donated their Friday salary to The Players Alliance.
“I feel like this past week, things have definitely escalated, people have talked and done what they can try to do to push that needle forward,” Bell said.
The decision by several teams not to play Wednesday and Thursday night were in response to the shooting by police of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin over the weekend. MLB let teams decide whether they would play or not. Some games were postponed while others went on.
The New York Mets and Miami Marlins jointly walked off the field after a moment of silence, draping a Black Lives Matter T-shirt across home plate as they chose not to start their scheduled game Thursday night.
Mets outfielder Dominic Smith, a 25-year-old Black man, hit the go-ahead home run in his first game since tearfully pleading for help combating racial inequality, helping his team beat the crosstown Yankees 6-4 in the opener of a doubleheader Friday.
Baseball’s recent postponements came after the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks didn’t come out on the floor for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. NBA games scheduled for Thursday and Friday were also postponed.
MLB announced Friday that its partnership with the Jackie Robinson Foundation would extend through 2023. It includes $3.5 million to support the foundation’s Scholarship Program, the Jackie Robinson Museum and the annual JRF ROBIE Awards.
Teams across the league were celebrating the day in various ways. As usual, players, managers, coaches, umpires and other on-field personnel were wearing Robinson’s No. 42.