The Los Angeles Dodgers took a stand Wednesday night, agreeing with the San Francisco Giants to not take the field at Oracle Park as a demonstration against ongoing police brutality and systemic racism.
They joined the likes of the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners; and in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks and L.A. Lakers, among others. The Bucks were first to boycott, as they didn’t emerge from the locker room for their Game 5 matchup against the Orlando Magic.
Rather than begin the second game of the series at 6:40 p.m. PT, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts addressed the media, flanked by Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.
The Dodgers held what Roberts described as “emotional conversations” during a team meeting and in individual discussions prior to arriving at their unanimous decision. However, had the team elected to move forward with playing, Mookie Betts informed teammates he would not play.
Kershaw said it was important to the rest of the clubhouse to fully support Betts, which was a factor in the team deciding against playing. What’s next for the Dodgers and Giants is somewhat unclear.
They are scheduled to play a doubleheader, but there is the overarching factor of MLB, the NBA, WNBA and other sports facing uncertainty over what players believe the next steps should be.
“We made a great statement as a team,” Kershaw said. “I feel like we did the right thing for today. As far as tomorrow goes, I think that’s another conversation. We’ll figure it out. I believe if Mookie plans on playing, we’re going to play.
“If it’s a doubleheader, we’ll figure that out as well. For right now I think the plan as a team is to play one game tomorrow.”
Betts did not offer any insight into his feelings on potentially returning to the field Thursday.
Roberts also planned to sit
Roberts acknowledged he too planned to sit out had the Dodgers played. He indicated first-base coach George Lombard and trainer Travis Smith were considering following suit.
Roberts said he had he full support of players, the front office and Dodgers ownership group.
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