Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
MLB players aren’t sitting on the sidelines in the fight for racial justice.
A spirited video message from many of the NFL’s best and brightest stars, including Patrick Mahomes, Michael Thomas and Deshaun Watson, was part of a wave of activism and awareness that led to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell finally saying the words “Black Lives Matter” and admitting he was wrong to oppose players who have chosen to kneel before games during the national anthem. Now, on a truly tough day for the MLB, a number of baseball’s foremost talents has done the same.
In a new video released Monday evening, Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks were among those declaring that enough is enough.
MLB players called for unity and increased activism in pursuit of positive change in a new pro-BLM video released Monday.
CC Sabathia, Andrew McCutchen, Curtis Granderson, Josh Harrison also participated in the message as part of a long, long list of Black Major League Baseball stars.
These players have a special role in the ongoing national conversation about racism and police brutality, as American baseball fans tend to skew older and whiter than their NFL and NBA counterparts. With that in mind, issue of visibility looms as a special challenge.
These guys are out here to ensure that ignoring them and their vital message is not an option.
As the video warns us, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “the word ‘wait’ almost always means never.” Many in and around baseball, from players to executives to fans, will never have to fear being unfairly targeted by police and potentially finding our lives senselessly in danger, but that doesn’t preclude the possibility of being an educated ally ready to listen and learn.
That’s a key takeaway from this clip, and something for us all to carry with us in what are sure to be difficult times to come — whether or not any baseball actually happens in 2020.