S T. LOUIS – Jarrod Dyson he was alone in not standing.
The Pirates’ center fielder, among the many black players in Major League Baseball in recent weeks against racial injustice, was the only player to kneel during the national anthem on either side of the 5-4 loss to the Cardinals this Friday night at Busch Stadium.
On top of that, he became the only Pittsburgh major league athlete in any sport to do so, at least to my knowledge.
“It meant a lot to me,” Dyson said after the game. “We are looking for change in this world and equality of opportunity and justice. It just meant a lot. I am behind my community 110 percent, and we are just looking for change in this world. It was good to have everyone behind me. And encouraging me to do what I did. I feel great about it. “
In an environment that saw ‘BLM’ stamped on the back of the launch mound, the bases and elsewhere, Kennedy Holmes, a 15-year-old black singer, a St. Louis native and recent contestant on the television show ‘The Voice,’ was chosen to sing the anthem. When she started, Dyson immediately fell to her right knee. Seconds later, Derek Shelton he left his place in the Pirates’ line, which had been on the far right near home plate, to get to Dyson’s right.
When the hymn ended and Dyson got up, he and Shelton hugged each other.
“It means a lot,” Dyson said of Shelton’s support after the game. “Your manager is 100 percent behind you, that’s a lot. I give everything I have when I go out on the field for him, and to back me up like that, that’s a special time for me.”
Shelton said he knew in advance that Dyson would kneel and reacted accordingly.
“When we talked about it, he said he was going to do it,” Shelton said. “I wanted to show her support, so I went and stood next to her.”
How much did Dyson argue about kneeling with his teammates?
“It’s all personal. It’s about how you feel and what you want to do. At the same time, we are a family here and we will support each other. So no matter what decisions you make, if you wanted to stop, if you wanted to kneel, we are for everything. We We will support each other. No one will look askance at that. “
Will he still kneel during the season?
“Well, I don’t know what I’m going to do. It might not show up next time. But yeah, I like to keep it constant.”
Could you elaborate on the conversations you are having with the Pirates?
“The conversation is going out and winning ball games. Everything that is happening in the world, we don’t have too much control over that. We can express our opinion and use our platforms too, but other than that, man, when I come to the ballpark I’m thinking of winning. That’s it. That’s the main objective. It’s not about the national anthem and all that, because we have a ball game to play. “
After one more question on the subject, Dyson resisted.
“Man, I thought we were going to talk about the ballgame for three hours. Not kneeling, man. I don’t know why they’re attracting so much attention … kneeling … because everyone knows what’s going on.” this world. Everyone knows how we feel about everything that is happening in this world. So sitting there talking on the knee is like searching, you know what I mean? I prefer to talk about baseball, because that’s what I play. It is not for kneeling or anything like that. I don’t want to make that the top priority here, because that top priority is winning ball games when we put on the suit. “
Dyson went 0 for 3 at the plate, stranding two.
All I will add here is: it is an extraordinary moment in our country, in our culture. I will respect Dyson’s right to express himself as he sees fit, just as I will Josh Bell’s right to stand. And honestly, I will respect that much more, once the hymn was made, and Shelton finished with Dyson, I watched from above as the rest of the Pirates took turns going to both of them players patting the shoulder or back to show support.
• Before anything like that, the Pirates took to the field to warm up in black jerseys commemorating the centennial of the Black Leagues: “They played for us, so we can,” just as they dressed up Thursday for final training. at PNC Park. The Cardinals wore black shirts with ‘Black Lives Matter’ printed on the front.
Then they played together in the garden, a scene I captured from the upper deck:
I asked Trevor williams about it later.
“It was just a sign of unity,” he replied. “What the boys have been doing for the anthem has been a sign of unity among the Players Association. That is a statement we are making. I am glad that MLB and sports have taken the reins of the sports para-narrative pole. People use their platforms to talk. I think it’s amazing to see the boys take control of their platform and control what they want to change. “
• The Cardinals had planned their own unified protest, but it didn’t work. How Mike Shildt, his manager would confirm, the players were going to kneel down during a moment of silence that preceded the hymn. I witnessed three of them start doing it, including Shildt, and then recovered when the hymn started.
“There is clarity in what we are going to do,” Shildt had told reporters in St. Louis before the game. “We understand that the hymn is something sacred. The flag is a very sacred thing. We respect that, of course. We will respect it in the future. If we do something in a moment of silence and kneel before that, that’s totally different and it’s separate from the hymn, which we will respect and defend ”.
Well, there was that.
• Meanwhile, on the way home to PNC Park, the Pirates revealed banners at the left field roundabout that explain “Black Lives Matter:”
Use your platform.
Make a difference. # BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/QZvYS2vztC
– Pirates (@Pirates) July 24, 2020
• I’m not about to wreck the new general manager after a single loss, but at least for the record, if the Pirates’ bullpen continues to terrorize everyone but the opponent, there’s nothing stopping Ben Cherington to find cheap help. Or to remember someone from the Altoona satellite camp.
Nothing destabilizes a baseball process like an unstable feather.
• It would be difficult to describe this setting anywhere, but doing it in St. Louis, where the passion for a baseball franchise doesn’t match in our country, is something else entirely.
When I went for a walk around town on a Starbucks mission, although people were scarce, the ones I saw still wore their usual red Cardinal gear. As if preparing for a soccer game on the road, to put it in Pittsburgh terms.
And even here at Busch Stadium, the few workers allowed to enter the venue shone for being back, for having a real ball.
As for the participants … they have now experienced some of this, at the respective summer camps and exhibits, like the three games the Pirates just played with the Indians. They had had the opportunity to acclimatize, to find some other form of motivation.
“I was very happy with how they came out, their intensity and focus. I thought we did a good job,” Shelton said of his players. “It’s a fit for everyone. And we have to play it by ear. I thought the crowd noise here in St. Louis did a good job of it. It was a good atmosphere. It was a good game.” If you like baseball, it was a good game. “
• That artificial crowd noise, a MLB creation that was distributed to all 30 teams to use as they see fit, was unpredictable.
In the opening presentations, for example, the non-crowd applauded just for Yadier Molina, who, although immensely popular, would not be the only one who would hear it from the faithful. (Although it seemed to make some of the other Cardinals laugh.) During the game, a routine foul ball that landed a dozen rows offside was greeted with a loud roar. And when St. Louis hit its three home runs, the fireworks preceded any applause.
Work in progress.
• I can’t stand to see this team in batting practice.
Is it okay to say that?
I had a chance to really absorb this, and there is very little ball driving apart from a couple of obvious players. There’s no way that doesn’t influence Shelton, an old hitting coach, plus Rick Eckstein.
• MLB and the Players Association released the latest results from the coronavirus tests on Friday, and they were outstanding: of the total of 10,939 samples, only six were positive and only four of them were players.
You know, it’s almost as if being smart and working in controlled environments can be safe.
The Pirates’ routine for the first real road game was not much altered, unless one counts the playful images of Abbey Road that they invented earlier. They stayed at their usual hotel, less than a block from Busch, and entered through a different door for protocol. Everything else (flight, bus, stay once at the hotel) was managed accordingly.
“The only real difference is that we eat inside the hotel,” said Williams, headline Saturday. “Here is a small cafeteria where we generally liked to go, but that was close. Which was heartbreaking. “
He was joking.
“No one is complaining. Everyone on our side has been doing a great job.”
• History Nerds: The Pirates are now 71-63 at the start of the season, 55-48 on the road … 0-1 under Shelton.
• It’s 1 out of 60. That’s it. And of the 30 participants, more than half will make the playoffs thanks to the expanded playoff field of 16 teams.
The math about how to feel after a given result will be confusing for a while, I think, but everyone can probably agree with Shelton’s observation on Friday: “Every time there is more opportunity for playoff baseball, I’m in favor. It will make it exciting. We have 60 games. There are now 16 teams up and running. Each game is meaningful, which should make it fun. It should make it fun to watch. Baseball is a must-see television for summer now. Because there are a lot of things going on. “
In a big hurry, too. The next game is Saturday at 2:15 PM ET. Williams vs. Adam Wainwright.
MORE PIRATE COVERAGE
• Kovacevic: count the blessings
• Live Qs at 5: Ask DK Anything!
• Kovacevic: Pay attention to the heart over the brain
• Friday Insider: no Jays winnings
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