Dozens of Black MLB players are marking this year's Jackie Robinson Day not only by making statements on behalf of the Black community, but also contributing real money to it.
Players who belong to The Players Alliance have agreed to donate their pay for Thursday and Friday back to the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The money will go toward "supporting our efforts to combat racial inequality and aid the Black families and communities deeply affected in the wake of recent events," the Players Alliance said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
We cannot stand idly by and wait for change✊🏾
— ThePlayersAlliance (@Player_Alliance) August 27, 2020
Join The Players Alliance in our movement: https://t.co/GF2xq96IZp pic.twitter.com/kwZCsLtXo5
The campaign is taking place during a week in which Black players boycotted games to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin, and racial injustice in the U.S. Five members of the alliance's seven-man players advisory board took themselves out of action, or joined their teams in sitting out, Wednesday or Thursday: Dexter Fowler, Dee Gordon, Jason Heyward, Cameron Maybin and Andrew McCutchen.
MORE: Mets, Marlins place BLM shirt on home plate, then begin boycott
Maybin, a Tigers outfielder, is a founding member of the Players Alliance, which was formed after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis last May. He was deeply involved in guiding players through the boycotts.
"I was up until 4 o’clock in the morning (Wednesday) night," he told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. "I was on group FaceTime calls, Zoom calls, individual FaceTime calls, text message conversations with guys wondering what to do, what we should do, watching what’s going on in the NBA."
The Tigers boycotted their game against the Twins in Detroit. The teams will now play a doubleheader Friday. Seven MLB games in all were called off Thursday for player protests.
NBA players got the boycotts started Wednesday afternoon. The Bucks said they would not play their playoff game in the Orlando bubble against the Magic. The league eventually postponed all games for Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday's slate is likely to be wiped out. The players have pledged to return to the court, with Saturday the likely return day.
As Maybin put it to Rosenthal:
“The way I explained this to my teammates, everything that is going on, that has happened, why are we hearing about it? A big part of the reason we’re hearing about is one, social media of course. But two, because of entertainers, athletes, people with platforms are speaking up on it. Things that are happening in the neighborhood, when people try to use their voices, nobody can hear those people. This is why you’re seeing the player community, the athlete community, the Black community, trying to be that voice. That’s a big of part of what I tried to convey to my team."
The Players Alliance's primary mission is to "create an inclusive culture within baseball and the community, where differences are leveraged to elevate racial equality and provide greater opportunities for the Black community, both in our game and the places we live in, play in, and care about most."
According to the organization's website, it is composed of 124 current and former MLB players who are worth $3.5 billion in current contract value. The alliance says it has raised $41.7 million for Black communities. Curtis Granderson (president), CC Sabathia (vice president) and Edwin Jackson (secretary) comprise its board of directors.
The coronavirus pandemic forced MLB to move Jackie Robinson Day from its usual April 15, the anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, to Aug. 28 this year. Friday is the 75th anniversary of the secret meeting in 1945 between Robinson and Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey that resulted in Rickey determining Robinson was the man to integrate the majors. Robinson debuted April 15, 1947.
