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WASHINGTON – When the major league baseball season began with Thursday and Friday season openings, the unit was cited by players for the first time since a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd.
That’s the topic the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals worked out on Thursday when 75 players and coaches knelt in front of the anthem and then rose for the recorded game.
As the season progresses, the silent protest messages will diverge, and on Saturday night, when the Yankees and Nationals gathered for their second game, the anthem was played with far less fanfare.
But the protest continued.
Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks both knelt during the pre-recorded game of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and paused on the field grass to kneel while a group of about eight Yankees stood for the anthem. The Nationals, most of whom appeared on the first baseline for the anthem, stood up.
When the anthem ended, Yankee’s second base player DJ LeMahieu went back and forth between his teammates and patted them on the back for support.
The message behind the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protests that started in 2016 was often misinterpreted and was related to the country’s non-support and not the desire to do better.
In baseball, where African Americans make up only 8% of the player population, only one major league player – Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell in September 2017 – knelt during the anthem before this year.
Floyd’s murder has greatly eased police brutality and other racial injustices – and given black players like Stanton and Hicks the opportunity to explain teammates to their actions.
“Now people will finally listen,” said Stanton after the Yankees’ 2-9 loss to the Nationals on Saturday night. “Things have come to light. There are more video cameras, more evidence of what’s going on.”
Stanton and Hicks both said they will continue to kneel and found that teammate support did not necessarily drive their decision, but it certainly fueled their determination.
They felt it at an emotional team meeting on Wednesday when the club discussed plans for the season opener before the game – and Stanton and Hicks informed teammates and manager Aaron Boone that they would kneel for the anthem and the reasons why.
“To show that we are still in this fight,” said Stanton, 30, the 2017 NL MVP who hit his second home run in as many games on Saturday. “We have to keep the movement moving.
“For basic human rights in America. For equality. For all of us to have a fair shock.”
Stanton and Hicks were born five weeks apart in 1989 on the other end of Los Angeles County. Neither were three years old when the acquittal of police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King triggered days of unrest in Los Angeles.
There has been progress in recent years that has barely alleviated the pain of discrimination they have experienced.
“As a black man living in America, I should be judged on my character, not my skin tone,” says Hicks. “Unfortunately, that was when I grew up.”
These incidents have given the Wednesday meeting at which LeMahieu said “some powerful things have been said” a great deal of emotion.
“I didn’t want to have her out there alone,” said LeMahieu. “Of course we support them and it will continue. I know that a lot will go into their decision.”
The protests were different in the major leagues. Dodger’s outfielder Mookie Betts, like Stanton, a former MVP, and a significant number of players and coaches have kneeled during the anthem. The Minnesota Twins were particularly active, pledging $ 25 million to fight racial injustice after Floyd was killed in the city they call hometown.
Ten players and coaches knelt, and Rocco Baldelli joined Gabe Kapler of San Francisco as manager. Baldelli was among the first baseball characters to condemn Floyd’s murder before protests increased nationally and globally.
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“First of all, I think the moment was beautiful in many ways,” Baldelli said after kicking off the Chicago White Sox on Friday. “It was something we expected. We knew there would be many MLB initiatives and team initiatives, and everyone was looking forward to it in one way or another.
“But it also allowed people to express themselves in a meaningful way. You spend a little time talking to people and you can see how much some of these moments really mean to you. I was very happy to be part of it be.”
The tapes were put away and the stencils of the Black Lives Matter on the back of the hills were scrubbed away. But Hicks and Stanton showed on Saturday that the actions will continue for some.
“As things develop,” says Stanton, “you can always be a good light.”
