Forty minutes after Kevin Gausman was to throw the first pitch to Mookie Betts at Oracle Park, the Giants and Dodgers, longtime rivals, issued a rare joint statement.
Their game was postponed. Instead of playing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts posed for cameras in the hallway outside the visiting clubhouse at Oracle Park, Mookie Betts on his right and Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen on his left.
They spoke strongly, with Betts and Roberts saying they never intended to take part in a game on Wednesday, and instead chose to protest against Jacob Blake’s shooting. Kershaw said it was important for Dodgers teammates to show support for Betts, so they decided they would not play either.
About an hour later, Giants manager Gabe Kapler even sat on a podium. He would not tell if the Giants took a stand on whether or not to play. He said there were a lot of difficult talks in the clubhouse, but shed some light on whether those ultimately leading the Giants also decided they would sit these out and make a statement.
“I met with our team and our clubhouse remains united on the same topics we are talking about, that racial inequality is completely unacceptable,” Kapler said. “I support every player, coach, person in our clubhouse, all our staff, speak out about faith, and in those conversations I encourage them to do so. I know this is difficult, but I will not always talk about the specifics of those conversations, but I’m sure happy to share as much perspective as possible, and then we’ll continue to make sure those discussions take place, because we all know how hugely important they are, and in particular with the current state of the country. “
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There is little doubt as to where Kapler stands on this. He is outspoken about racism and police brutality, became the first manager to take a knee, was active in the community and spoke passionately about the cancellations of the NBA and the Blake shooting earlier Wednesday. But the Giants did not do much to make it clear after the proposal that the clubhouse, which has lost some of the players who first took a knee – including Jaylin Davis – feels the same way.
No player was made available to the media and Kapler did not immediately answer questions about whether the Giants, like the Dodgers, had decided not to play.
“What I can share with you is that if you are dealing with 26 people in a Major League clubhouse, you will have different views and different opinions. I think that is no secret,” he said. “I think what’s really cool about the day and age we are in is that players use their platforms to express themselves, and in exactly the way they want to express themselves and just their own words.”
There was none of that Wednesday night of the real players, or at the Zoom press conference as social media. This created an awkward situation. The Giants and Dodgers did a good job, and did it together, but it was hard not to get away from Kapler’s words with the impression that many of the Giants recorded everything that went into the sports world on Wednesday and still do. wanted to play, only to close when Betts’ teammates took his lead.
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This is a divisive issue, and it seems to have been the case in the Giants clubhouse, although it is led by a manager who has spoken passionately for one side.
“Obviously the Jacob Blake-Wisconsin incident was terrible, and we have the opportunity on a day like today to talk about it, and even at the expense of baseball, that’s really a powerful thing,” Kapler said. “We will keep this opportunity as more things appear and at that point we will make decisions about how we want to handle it.”
