Unlike players in the NBA, NFL and WNBA, Major League Baseball’s players have been largely silent during the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd.
That changed last night when players, managers and coaches of the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals knelt in unison for 60 seconds before the opening game of the 2020 MLB season prior to the playing of the national anthem on Thursday night.
Before the planned demonstration, a message about racial equality recorded by Morgan Freeman played over the stadium’s speakers.
The entire Yankees roster and many Nationals have taken a knee after a Morgan Freeman narrated audio clip of unity was played: pic.twitter.com/I3i4Tkr8PO
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) July 23, 2020
Prior to the second game of MLB’s opening night, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants held a similar demonstration with several players from the Giants and Dodgers star Mookie Betts taking a knee during the anthem as well.
Mookie Betts is the only Dodger kneeling during the anthem. Cody Bellinger has his hand on his shoulder. pic.twitter.com/6DIOzAdtLF
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 24, 2020
The actions are a departure from tradition because, when players in the NBA, WNBA and NFL followed Colin Kaepernick’s lead and participated in a wave of BLM demonstrations in 2016, only one MLB player took part.
Bruce Maxwell, who knelt during the national anthem before a regular-season game in 2017 when he was a rookie catcher for the Oakland Athletics, did not last long in MLB and played in Mexico last season. He says his decision to protest led to the downfall of his career.
Bruce Maxwell on bended knee #Oakland #Athletics #nationalanthem #mlb #baseball pic.twitter.com/IizRfv79iY
— Scott Strazzante (@ScottStrazzante) September 26, 2017
“I got pushed out of the game because I took a knee during the national anthem,” Maxwell told ESPN. “It eats at me. I find a way to still get my work done, but it still eats at me. Everyone talks about veteran leadership, but where were they? Chris Archer deflected every question. Didn’t even want to make the BLM video. No time for that dude. Andrew McCutchen? Where was everybody? How do you let a guy with one year of service time outlead you? I didn’t do this for the clout. I did this because of what’s happening in this country and because we play in the whitest sport. We play in the most racist sport. There should be more of us out there.”
The other main story of the evening, albeit a far less important one, was Dr. Anthony Fauci throwing out the first pitch prior to the Yankees-Nationals game.
Dr. Fauci, an avid Nationals fan, did not hit the mark.
Anthony Fauci, First Pitch Mechanics. pic.twitter.com/QxszDQJDuu
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 23, 2020
Also, to mark baseball’s return, President Trump posted a video of himself having a little catch on the lawn of the White House and also announced he will be throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on August 15.
WELCOME BACK BASEBALL! pic.twitter.com/dhLSfNkI7L
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2020
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