Astros protest racial injustice by sitting out game against A’s - Houston Chronicle

On the day Major League Baseball honored the man who broke its color barrier, the Astros protested against racial injustice and police brutality by not playing their series opener against the A’s in a surreal yet sobering scene on Friday night inside Minute Maid Park.

After conducting all the pregame festivities that suggested a game would be played, both teams took the field as scheduled at 8:10 p.m. All wore Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, part of the league’s annual league-wide commemoration of Robinson’s contributions to the sport.

“Jackie did a lot of great things, but I think he’d want more,” said Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, who is Black. “I think taking a stand and having these conversations is going to help us do more.”

While the Astros players ran to their defensive positions, both teams exited their dugout and lined along the baselines. Astros catcher Martín Maldonado laid an orange No. 42 jersey in the lefthanded batters box. A’s leadoff hitter Marcus Semien placed the A’s version in the righthanded box. Semien covered home plate with a Black Lives Matter T-shirt.

The teams held a 42-second moment of silence before exiting the field, leaving only the three shirts on display. Both clubs tipped their caps as they departed. They will play a doubleheader on Saturday containing two seven-inning games.

“If we can change one person’s mind and have a conversation that changes one person’s thought process that saves a life, this was worth it to us,” Brantley said.

“As a group, as a community, we’re doing a great job of talking about it, but there’s these situations that keep coming up that have to stop. And I think we all feel the same way. And the more times we can talk about it and educate ourselves, the better off we’re going to be.”

RELATED: Dusty Baker worries about ‘racial time bomb’

Ten games were postponed between Wednesday and Thursday as baseball reckoned with the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisc. Playoff games in both the NBA and NHL were postponed, too, including Game 5 of the Rockets Western Conference Playoffs series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I think this is bigger than baseball,” Brantley said. “We talked about it in our meeting that this is just not about baseball. This is my life.”

The Astros were off on Wednesday and Thursday because of the threat of Hurricane Laura. The team held a meeting upon its arrival at Minute Maid on Friday. Around 5:30 p.m., the players approached manager Dusty Baker and general manager James Click with their idea to stage a protest. Click called owner Jim Crane to inform him of the plan.

According to Click, Crane “supported 100 percent.” A statement attributed to the team said “we support their decision to make a strong statement in support of the fight for racial equality. We are proud of our players’ efforts to use their voices to drive necessary change.”

“We felt like this message was bigger than missing another game, to show support for our brothers, not only on our team, but across the league as well, to let them know that we have their backs every day, no matter what goes on,” said outfielder Josh Reddick, who spoke alongside Brantley after the game.

Brantley is one of only a few Black players on the Astros’ active roster. He and George Springer are each members of The Players Alliance, a group of more than 100 current and former Black players who seek more opportunities and advancement for Blacks in baseball.

Brantley, along with other Alliance members, are donating their game checks from the past two days to organizations that combat racial inequality.

“I have multi-racial kids. I want this world to be a better place for them when they grow up, day in and day out or whatever I can do is just have a conversation with somebody to bring up points so that the world becomes a better place,” Brantley said. “That’s what it’s all about for me.”

Both teams attempted to make Friday’s pregame program feel normal. The clubs took pregame batting practice. Starting lineups were introduced over the public address system and the Astros’ usual pregame hype videos played.

Both starters — Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. and Oakland’s Chris Bassitt — went to their respective bullpens. McCullers sat on a bench and did not throw a pitch. Bassitt took a few throws off the mound in the visiting bullpen.

All of the Astros position players gathered in the first-base dugout to watch videos that paid tribute to Robinson’s legacy. Baker and A’s manager Bob Melvin met with all four umpires at home plate, but it was much briefer than a usual gathering before the first game of a series.

Melvin and Reddick, a former A’s star, talked before the game. Former Astro Tony Kemp chatted with some of his ex-teammates, too. Oakland “loved every minute” of the Astros’ protest plans, according to Reddick. Before heading to Houston, the A’s postponed its game on Thursday against the Texas Rangers in protest.

“For a while there, it had gotten away from being America’s game,” Baker said. “This brought it back full circle … This is definitely America’s game. America belongs to all of us, no matter if you got here early or late. We’re all Americans and we’ve all had a hand in building this country, and we’ve probably all had a hand in tearing some of it down. Now it’s time to rebuild it back again.”

Baker is one of the sport’s two Black managers and viewed as a prominent voice for equality and race relations within the sport. He endured a 19-year playing career full of racism and profiling, but exists as one of the most successful managers in the sport’s history. Baker is lauded for his ability to relate to all people regardless of race, gender or creed. Baker’s player-first focus prompted Crane to hire him in February in the wake of Houston’s sign-stealing scandal — an ugly chapter that could have fractured the franchise.

“We’ve been through a lot this year. We’ve been through a lot of scrutiny, but this probably is the closest I’ve seen these guys together,” Baker said.

“Something like this has brought these guys together. It’s sad it had to take this to come together like this. Dialogue is the key, conversation is the key. You know everyone doesn’t agree on every subject, but the fact that they’re listening to each other … they’re beginning to understand each other, which I think is big.”

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/astros/article/Astros-A-s-protest-racial-injustice-and-police-15523413.php

2020-08-29 03:11:15Z
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