MILWAUKEE -- Derek Holland allowed three home runs in his showcase start before the trade deadline Friday, as the Pirates fell to the Brewers, 9-1, at Miller Park.
Friday was Jackie Robinson day across the league, which was rescheduled from its usual Apr. 15 anniversary of him breaking baseball's color barrier because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
To commemorate, Major League Baseball released a video, narrated by Mookie Betts and directed by filmmaker Randy Wilkins, closing with Robinson's words, "there is not an American in this country free, until everyone of us is free."
“4 Us 2 Remember” reminds us that Jackie Robinson’s legacy lives on through the players who proudly wear 42 and everyone who stands against injustice.
Narrated by @MookieBetts pic.twitter.com/CZgyRLllby
— MLB (@MLB) August 28, 2020
It has been 73 years since Robinson broke the color barrier. It looks like a long time ago as the number, but it's only a few generations removed from where we are today. Before Friday's game, Derek Shelton told a story of how his son, Jackson, lit up when he realized that longtime baseball player and coach Don Zimmer, who was also part of the Rays organization at the time, was a teammate of Robinson.
There has been progress towards racial equality since Robinson's debut. There is more that needs to be done, and those discussions have amplified in 2020, unfortunately due to tragic events.
On Aug. 23, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wis. police. It was the latest in highly publicized cases of violence by police towards civilians in recent months, including the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks.
"I know that these horrific acts aren’t going to be the last ones that are talked about, but, hopefully, one day, they will end,” Josh Bell said Friday.
Since sports have returned, athletes have used their platform to protest racial injustice, including players kneeling during the National Anthem. In recent days, some players have refused to play in solidity with the cause. The NBA, WNBA and NHL playoffs have been postponed, but will resume Saturday.
There has been at least one baseball game not played each of the past three days, including Friday, when the Athletics and Astros held a brief ceremony honoring Robinson before walking off the field:
Black. Lives. Matter. pic.twitter.com/jRFkFYPITq
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) August 29, 2020
Shelton has said the organization will support players who will use their platforms for a message. Bell and Cole Tucker have been vocal, and Jarrod Dyson took a knee during the opening day National Anthem.
Ending police brutality is more important than sports
— Cole Tucker (@cotuck) August 26, 2020
The Pirates had what Bell described as a "30 or 40 minute" conversation about not playing Thursday in St. Louis, but ultimately decided to play because the logistics of having to reschedule another doubleheader against the Cardinals would be too difficult.
"We didn't necessarily do it as an act of not participating," Bell said. "We just felt like our hands were kind of tied in that moment. And the conversation was going to continue. With Mookie doing what he did and the NBA doing what they did, the conversation is continuing and we're excited to be a part of it."
The discussion sparked by athletes has continued off the field as well. On Friday, peaceful protesters marched through the streets of St. Louis to Busch Stadium, shouting, "no justice, no baseball:"
March in #stl pausing at Ballpark Village. “No justice! No baseball!” (#stlcards and the Cleveland Indians are scoreless in the first inning.) pic.twitter.com/CLFl2CLAfA
— Joel Currier (@joelcurrier) August 29, 2020
The protests across the league have been met with vocal supporters and critics on how athletes should use their platform, and if human rights activism should be separated from sports.
That discussion has made this a particularly relevant Jackie Robinson day. To borrow his words: "Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion, you're wasting your life."
“I feel like Jackie didn’t know what it was going to look like," Bell said. "But he knew that he was going to have to take some backlash, and he did. I feel like a lot of the players right now are taking some backlash, but they are willing and able to take it full on. It’s exciting to hope for the change in the future and to see what the world looks like in the future.”
Bell, who is usually reserved, has spoken out against racial injustice in recent months. He has become a part of the Player's Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 current and former black baseball players.
Those in the alliance are each donating two days worth of salaries back into their communities. As Bell put it, "we have to put our money where our mouth is."
"We can say a lot, but it means a lot more if we can go out in communities and actively do," Bell said. "That’s just a sign of us doing. I know there’s going to be a lot more to come."
Bell is still working on the question of how he can contribute to the fight for change. As Robinson once put, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
Bell still works to find the balance of how he can make that impact in a fight from the same sport which Robinson played in as he changed the world.
“I’ve been trying to recognize and acknowledge that there’s bad in this world, but still try to fight for the change that’s going to be the good,” Bell said. “... Hopefully one day it will be the last one, things will change, and legislation will change and society will change as a whole to make life better for younger generations across the board. It’s definitely tough, but I guess one day I’ll look back on these times and be thankful.”
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