Royals’ Merrifield explains why it was important to play, even as 3 MLB games postponed
The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals pushed forward with their game Wednesday night on a unique day in North American sports.
NBA players decided they would not participate in playoff games Wednesday night, boycotting to bring attention to racial injustice after an African-American man, Jacob Blake, was shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Three scheduled MLB games were also postponed Wednesday when players on those teams chose not to play. Cardinals players Dexter Fowler and Jack Flaherty sat out of the Royals-Cardinals game in a show of solidarity with players elsewhere who felt it inappropriate to play.
The Cardinals’ official Twitter account posted a tweet acknowledging their players’ decision and expressing support for them.
“We knew there was discussion on their part, but it was never discussed that we were not going to play the game,” Royals star Whit Merrifield said. “That was never discussed.”
During spring training 2.0, Merrifield spoke passionately about his feeling of responsibility to participate this season and be there for his teammates in spite of concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic.
Royals manager Mike Matheny and general manager Dayton Moore have spoken about the sacrifice made and discipline displayed by their players amid the ongoing pandemic, and the extensive health and safety protocols the club and Major League Baseball have put in place this year.
Earlier this summer, while the season was on hold because of the coronavirus, Royals players and staff held internal discussions about America’s social unrest. The organization also felt it was important to discuss race relations with its Black players in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in May.
When asked a follow-up question by The Star about why boycotting or postponing Wednesday’s game wasn’t discussed when other players or teams were using such opportunities to make statements by not playing, Merrifield offered a long and thoughtful response.
“We — I saw ‘we’ because I’m reflecting the guys that I’ve spoken to about this, and I haven’t spoken to every single member on the team about it — but we feel what we do is a separation from what’s all going on in the world for a lot of people,” Merrifield said. “We feel like it’s important for us to go out and do our job because it gives people a three-hour window to enjoy a baseball game and to not think about what else is going on in the world.
“Other teams might feel different. Other players might feel different and might want to make that statement.”
Merrifield, 31, then pivoted in his answer and shared his personal opinion on the matter.
“To me, and I hesitate to even speak on the subject because I know who I am — I’m a straight white male, to be frank — and what I say on the subject doesn’t hold a lot of weight, and a lot of times people don’t want to hear it,” Merrifield said. “But my opinion on the whole issue is that obviously we have some stuff going on in the world that needs to be addressed.
“I don’t necessarily agree with the way it is addressed a lot of the times, but I don’t know what it’s like to be a Black man walking down the street. But I also don’t know what it’s like to be a cop out there trying to protect the streets. What I do know is that there’s evil in the world and there’s good in this world. What I also know is that love brings on love and hate brings on hate. And unfortunately, we’ve got a little too much hate bringing on more hate, it seems, with everything going on.”
Unlike the NBA and NHL, leagues that resumed their seasons in “bubble” settings with players secluded together in relative isolation, MLB teams have traveled since the start of baseball’s truncated regular season.
The Royals started the season in Cleveland. In the city’s downtown area surrounding Progressive Field, numerous storefronts, restaurants, bars and other buildings were partially boarded up as a result of protesting, unrest and rioting in previous months.
Two weeks ago, the Royals were on the road for a series against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis — the city in which Floyd was killed in the street while being detained by police.
The latest viral video of police shooting a Black man sparked protests and shootings in Wisconsin, allegedly committed by a 17-year-old.
“To me, and I’ve said it multiple times, I feel like the root of all this is social media,” Merrifield said. “And it’s driving people insane. People get on, rant, it just builds up, and there’s just not enough love going around. That’s been my message to a lot of guys. I’ve talked to (hitting coach Terry Bradshaw), I’ve talked to (first base coach) Damon Hollins, who are two Black guys on our team. They’re coaches, but I’ve said, ‘Look guys. You guys can talk to me about anything that’s going on, if you’ve got something on your chest and you want to talk about it.’
“But I’m going to go out and try to love everybody. Just because that’s what I believe. I believe, ‘Love everybody.’ Not everybody’s going to love you back, but being the Christian man that I am, that’s the number one rule that I like to live by. I feel like we don’t have enough of that going around, and I would like to see more. Obviously, people are upset, but I don’t feel like the way we’re approaching things is the way to get things changed. That’s just my opinion.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 11:44 AM.
