Astros, A's walk off field on Jackie Robinson Day
For the third straight day, MLB has seen a game postponed after players refused to play in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The lone game to see a player protest on Friday, the day MLB celebrated its league-wide Jackie Robinson Day, was between the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics. Both teams took the field in No. 42 jerseys in honor of Robinson, observed a moment of silence, then exited.
Soon, the only things left on the field were No. 42 jerseys from both teams and a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt.
Black. Lives. Matter. pic.twitter.com/jRFkFYPITq
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) August 29, 2020
Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the teams will play a doubleheader Saturday to make up the game.
The Astros later released a statement of support for their players and said they would celebrate Jackie Robinson Day again on Saturday.
From the #Astros: pic.twitter.com/vsOhppRMkf
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 29, 2020
MLB seeing widespread protests after Jacob Blake shooting
The protest was quite similar to the walk-out of the New York Mets and Miami Marlins on Thursday. Like the Astros and A’s, both teams took the field as if they were ready to play, observed a moment of silence, then exited, leaving only a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt.
Player walkouts have swept MLB and the rest of the sports world since the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks refused to play a playoff game on Wednesday in protest of Blake’s shooting. 21 of 30 MLB teams have seen games postponed due to protests, with three games postponed on Wednesday, seven on Thursday and two on Friday. The A’s had previously had a game against the Texas Rangers postponed on Thursday.
The MLB Players Alliance, a group of Black MLB players including Andrew McCutchen, Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts, also announced they would donate their salaries from Thursday and Friday to combat racial inequality and aid Black communities.
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