Three MLB games postponed after Brewers, Mariners lead walkout to protest Jacob Blake shooting
The Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners followed the lead of the Milwaukee Bucks and the five other NBA teams who walked out Wednesday in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The Brewers, who play 44 miles from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the shooting took place, and the Mariners, who have the most Black players in MLB, led a walkout on Wednesday that resulted in their respective games against the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres being postponed.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants also decided to postpone Wednesday’s game in protest, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. All three will be made up as part of doubleheaders on Thursday, the league announced.
MLB teams take a stand
Brewers’ player representative Brent Suter says it was a “collective decision” between the Brewers and Reds to not play.
Brewers player rep Brent Suter called this "a collective Reds/Brewers decision not to play tonight to focus on our community hurting and the issues that are bigger than baseball."
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) August 26, 2020
From the players of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds: pic.twitter.com/qkhH4AmBKm
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 26, 2020
Shortly after the Brewers-Reds game was postponed, members of the Mariners voted to not play.
The Mariners have voted to not play tonight.
Austin Hedges, Tommy Pham and Manny Machado just met with Kyle Seager, Shed Long and Marco Gonzales.— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) August 26, 2020
In light of their decision, veteran Dee Gordon says it’s time to focus on issues that are more important than sports.
Instead of watching us, we hope people will focus on the things more important than sports that are happening.
- Dee Strange-Gordon— Dee Gordon (@FlashGJr) August 26, 2020
In one of those more powerful messages of the day, the Dodgers and Giants put their storied rivalry aside to release a joint statement in support for a more equitable society.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 27, 2020
Other games were impacted as well.
Despite their teams electing to play on, Jason Heyward of the Chicago Cubs, Dexter Fowler of the St. Louis Cardinals and Matt Kemp of the Colorado Rockies made the personal choice to sit out Wednesday.
Following the Bucks lead
The Bucks were the first sports team to take a stand on Wednesday when they didn’t appear on the court prior to Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic.
After the game was postponed, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported that Wednesday's Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers-Los Angeles Lakers playoff games would also be postponed after the players decided not to play.
Shortly after the Bucks decision was made public, the Brewers held a team meeting to discuss their feelings on playing Wednesday's game. Relief pitcher Josh Hader, whose past racist, bigoted and homophobic tweets came to light in 2018, seemed to publicly support the idea of not playing in comments before the Brewers met.
Josh Hader on Bucks boycott: "I think it's a tremendous stand. This is more about sports." Says can't say yes or no on #Brewers boycott. "I'm sure it's something we are going to discuss."
— Tom (@Haudricourt) August 26, 2020
Major League Baseball was informed of the Brewers decision about 90 minutes before it was made public, sources tell Yahoo Sports. The league has since expressed its support.
Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/jyDdZJ7fN7
— MLB (@MLB) August 27, 2020
The players’ union also released a statement supporting the players decision to protest.
Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark today released the following statement: pic.twitter.com/UmCHDtUfX8
— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) August 27, 2020
More from Yahoo Sports: