Yankees, Nationals will open with message in support of Black Lives Matter
Yankees' Gerrit Cole #45 dealing during the intrasquad game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx Friday July 1, 2020 Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
WASHINGTON – The Nationals announced Wednesday that a Black Lives Matter/MLB stencil will appear on the mound for their season-opening series vs. the Yankees.
The series starts Thursday night and the Yankees new ace, Gerrit Cole, is just fine with it.
“It’s freedom of speech, it’s the Bill of Rights,” Cole said Wednesday. “It’s what the country’s founded on, to be able to express yourself freely. I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
The Nationals' statement said all teams would have the stencil during games this weekend as MLB becomes the first professional sports league to attempt games that count during the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, MLB has stated players can have a patch on their jersey sleeve with either “Black Lives Matter” or “United For Change” on Opening Day, which is Thursday for four teams, including the Yankees, or Friday.
“We have a team meeting about that later tonight, to go over the protocols and [the patches] and what we’re going to do as a team. I’m certainly not opposed to wearing either patch, I’d just like to get with my team about it first, ” said Cole.
Though the Yankees were among the last teams in professional sports to issue a statement in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police May 25 that sparked protests across the world about police brutality and racial injustice, Yankees GM Brian Cashman indicated actions his players want to take in that regard – including kneeling during the Anthem – will be supported.
“Obviously that’s a manifestation of where our country currently is,” Cashman said of the kneeling. “Our country is, in many ways, the greatest country in the world, and in some ways, it’s broken in certain aspects where we’re not all together and not all as one as we should be. And because of that, you’re seeing demonstrations like kneeling at the Anthem as part of that process because part of our community is hurting when it shouldn’t be. And if it’s been ignored for such a long period of time and not been addressed as well as it should have been or could have been, the great part of America is there’s different ways to express yourself and different platforms to utilize how you express yourself. So I support the ability for somebody to protest in the way they see fit as long as it’s, obviously, in a legal and healthy way. I think there’s nothing more American than being able to express your beliefs. I’m always supportive of that.”
Honoring Hank
The Yankees announced Wednesday they would be wearing a “HGS” patch on the left sleeve of their home and away uniforms to honor the life of former general partner and co-chairperson Hank Steinbrenner, who died April 14 at the age of 63.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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