MLB saw several games postponed Thursday. Here's a joint Phillies-Nationals statement.
MLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

Large parts of the sports world wound up on pause Wednesday and Thursday following the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks’ decision not to play Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha,Wisconsin. In Major League Baseball, three games were postponed Wednesday after players voted not to play, and players on other MLB teams sat out as well.

On Thursday, the NBA, NHL and tennis all decided not to play, but MLB left it up to individual teams. But enough MLB teams opted out that at least six games won’t be played Thursday. ESPN’s Jeff Passan listed four early ones Thursday afternoon, including two (Phillies-Nationals and Rangers-A’s) that were supposed to air nationally on the Fox broadcast network:

Later, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies called off their game as well:

And the Florida Marlins-New York Mets game didn’t happen either:

The Phillies-Nationals and Red Sox-Blue Jays postponements were handled as joint statements from both teams, but the Tigers and Rangers put out statements indicating that they didn’t opt out, but that they respected their opponents’ decisions to do so. Here’s a joint statement from the Nationals and Phillies (the Phillies tweeted it out as well):

And a joint statement from the Red Sox and Blue Jays:

Here’s the Twins’ statement:

Meanwhile, the Tigers only tweeted that the game had been postponed:

Here’s the A’s statement:

And here’s the Rangers’ statement, which makes it clear their postponement was a decision by the A’s players:

Similarly, the Diamondbacks made it very clear their postponement was because of the Rockies:

The Marlins-Mets’ situation is an unusual one, as Mets’ GM Brodie Van Wagenen’s comments ahead of an official pre-game presser (which were put out on the Mets’ app and website) suggested that their players didn’t want to play, and that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was trying to force them to play after a symbolic hour delay. Van Wagenen later issued a statement saying that he misinterpreted, and that that idea actually came from Mets’ owner Jeff Wilpon:

It’s also notable that Friday, Aug. 28, is Jackie Robinson Day, and that the Players’ Alliance (a group of current and former Black MLB players) announced they’ll donate their salaries from Thursday and Friday “to combat racial inequality and aid Black families and communities.” Here’s the full statement there:

We’ll see if any further games are postponed.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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