Sox postpone Thursday’s game against Blue Jays
Support Bradley, who said they could still play
The Red Sox said they didn’t have time before first pitch against the Blue Jays on Wednesday to meet and discuss if they wanted to play or not, but given a day to mull the situation, they decided to make a stand on Thursday.
As games across American sports continued to be postponed as players and teams protest the ongoing police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police officers in Wisconsin, the Red Sox met as a team Thursday and decided not to play their scheduled series finale against the Jays in Buffalo.
Discussions began after Wednesday night’s game, but the decision was made during a 4 p.m. team meeting in the visiting clubhouse at Sahlen Field, where an emotional scene unfolded. Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said he had tears in his eyes as Jackie Bradley Jr., the only black player on the Red Sox, and Tom Goodwin, the Red Sox’
first-base coach who is also African-American, addressed the team to share their thoughts and experiences.
Bradley Jr. had already decided he wasn’t playing before the meeting took place, and actually encouraged his teammates to still play. But the team wanted to rally around their center fielder.
“(Jackie) said, ‘I’m fine if you guys want to play, it’s an individual thing and a decision we all have to make,’” Roenicke said “And he said there’s no hard feelings if guys want to go out there and play but that’s not how the group felt. The group felt strongly about backing Jackie and his beliefs and issues going on so that’s the decision we made in that meeting.”
Said Xander Bogaerts, a longtime teammate of Bradley’s: “He wanted us to go play even though he wasn’t going to play today. But I think this really shows how much we care about him and the team and trying to make this a better place.”
The Blue Jays had actually voted to play, but they respected the Red Sox’ decision. In a joint statement, the two clubs said they respected the players’ decision “to bring further awareness to the systemic racism that contributes to police violence against Black, Indigenous and people of color in our communities” and looked forward to returning to the field and using their platform to amplify that message and inspire change.
There’s no word if or when Thursday’s game will be made up this season. The Red Sox said they plan to play Friday, when they return to Fenway Park to host the Nationals on Jackie Robinson Day. They haven’t decided if they will do something special to honor the day, but Roenicke noted that he thinks it’s important they play.
Roenicke, who was visibly choked up during his press conference, said he hoped the Red Sox’ decision not to play Thursday could help start tough and meaningful conversation about issues facing the country.
“We all know how important baseball is,” Roenicke said. “We understand that that’s why we’re playing. We’re playing through the pandemic that’s going on, so we know it’s all important, but we know the issues in life are more important. And listening to Goodie and Jackie talk, it makes a big difference in our lives and it should make a difference in everybody’s lives. If you’re a kid and you turn on the TV tonight and you don’t see that we’re playing, and you ask your parents, ‘Why aren’t the Red Sox playing?’ I hope the parents have a serious discussion with their kids, and tell them what’s going on, explain what’s going on, because we need to discuss these things more. We need to listen more. And that’s the only way that we’re going to change. …
“These are things that hopefully what we do here and what has been done leads to because there needs to be a change in this great country that we live in.”
The Red Sox are hopeful they can help create that change.
Among the many things that were said during the meeting, Roenicke said Mitch Moreland brought up the idea of starting a charity that could make a difference.
The details have yet to be determined on that, but it’s a start. A start they hope they can help lead by sitting on the sidelines Thursday night.
“You hope it’s a conversation to be had,” said Kevin Pillar. “As opposed to people watching a Red Sox game, maybe they’re talking to their family, their neighbors about what’s going on in the world, coming to ideas about how to make this a better place. Brainstorming how we can make things better. Us not playing isn’t going to change anything today, tomorrow, the next day. … Hopefully these conversations continue. I wish I knew the answer to the question of how to make this better, I think it’s a long road ahead. But I think that we’re talking about it openly and honestly is a good starting point.”