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Mets and Marlins Players Walk Off Field in Protest

An empty stadium without fans. A sweltering summer evening where temperatures reached the upper 80s. And a sense, shared among many, that something was terribly wrong with America’s race relations. 

These were the conditions under which the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins took the field on Thursday night. The players, as they usually do, performed their pre-game warmups. The managers exchanged lineup cards. It seemed that despite all that was happening in the world, another chapter of America’s pastime would be played. 

As the deadline for the first pitch approached, the starting pitchers refused to go through their warmups. Normally, it takes about 20 minutes for starting pitchers to warm up, and the clock was ticking. 

Then, in honor of Jackie Robinson, who wore number 42, players and personnel of both teams observed a 42-second moment of silence. What happened next caught everyone completely by surprise. 

“Being a Black man in America is not easy.” 

Those were the words spoken by Mets player Dominic Smith after he and his teammates — along with Marlins’ players — walked off the field Thursday night. As they carried out their symbolic protest, a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt was draped over home plate, echoing the voices of hundreds of protestors who have taken to the streets in recent days. 

Along with the Mets and Marlins, the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox also cancelled their matchup. The decision was made after all-star outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who is Black, refused to take the field. Nearly every other American sports league, including the WNBA, the NBA, the NHL, and MLS, have participated in athletes’ expressions of outrage over racial injustice. 

The tradition of athletes protesting goes back decades, most famously with Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick faced backlash, to the point where he is now unsignable as a free agent. 

This time, however, the actions of the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers and others have the full support of owners and commissioners. When asked about the protests, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said, “I respect those decisions and support the need to address social injustice.” 

It is easy to assume that the worst troubles of race in America are in the rear-view mirror. There have been enormous improvements since Brown vs. Board of Ed and the Civil Rights Act. But as Mets pitcher Dellin Betances put it, “It seems like nothing has changed.” 

And has it, really? There still remains the troubling statistic that African American motorists are much more likely to be pulled over by cops. More importantly, the all-telling measure of the American Dream, upward mobility, is far out of reach. African Americans who grow up in wealthy households are much less likely than other races to stay rich when they reach adulthood. Of course, the prospect of attaining the American Dream is a moot point if young Black men are gunned down in the prime of their lives. 

Of the athletes’ protests, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said, “They have a big platform and they’re using it and I support that.” 

The athletes’ cultural pedestal is indeed among the highest of platforms. Our athletes capture our attention to a far greater degree than our politicians. As an example, approximately 1.5 million people per day watch CNN. By contrast, 23 million people last year watched the seventh game of the World Series. The celebrity status of athletes puts them in a much greater position to enact social change than the pundits on CNN, or even the leaders of social movements. 

Dominic Smith, the player who led the Mets in protest, put it succinctly: “This is way bigger than baseball. This is life. This is humanity.” 

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