After the Dodgers postponed their game last night, Mookie Betts was planning on sitting out on Thursday as players and teams across the MLB continue to let their voices be heard. Initially when the lineup was announced, Betts wasn’t in the lineup. About an hour later, he was added to the lineup.
Betts told manager Dave Roberts this morning that he spoke to other black players around the league and decided they could use their platform by playing.
“They could use their platform more by playing,” Roberts said to the media. “There’s a lot of white teammates that stood beside him in not playing. Acknowledging that and continuing to stay unified and play was very important. With the idea of continued conversations a solutions as to how we can make life better for black people.”
Yesterday, Betts, Roberts, Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw spoke to the media following the announcement of the postponement of the game. Here’s what Betts said yesterday.
“For me, I think no matter what, I wasn’t going to play tonight because I had to stand by my guns here,” Betts said. “Like [Roberts] said, there’s a lot going on in the world and change needs to be made. You know, I have to use my platform to at least get the ball rolling.
“Black people have been fighting this fight for centuries, and we haven’t gotten anywhere,” Betts said. “I think having the white players, and people in general, to help push it, I think change can be made. But it’s going to take all of us, not just one group of people.”
Yesterday, Roberts was planning on sitting out the game and not managing. When asked about his decision today, he said he’ll be the manager.
“All of us are going to participate in these games today,” he said. “It’s been exhausting but the vulnerability that everyone has shown in our clubhouse that the public doesn’t get to see, it’s been good. Theres been a lot of tough conversations, but for guys to stand together to not pay a major league baseball game is a big deal. Thats the point.”
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
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