The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles acknowledged the nation’s social justice movement prior to their Opening Day game at Fenway Park on Friday night.
Players wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts, and a Major League Baseball-issued Black Lives Matter sign was spread across the center-field bleachers.
Players from both teams took a knee while holding a black ribbon in a moment of unity before the game. During the national anthem, Red Sox outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alex Verdugo continued to kneel and were joined by third-base coach Carlos Febles and first-base coach Tom Goodwin. Orioles players stood with their arms linked.
“It felt good,” Bradley said. “It felt like a release to be able to do that.”
There also was a moment of silence in honor of those who’ve died during the coronavirus pandemic and for medical workers.
Like in other Opening Day games around the majors, there were no spectators allowed inside Boston’s fabled park on Friday. But there were cardboard cutouts of Red Sox fans placed on the seats above the Green Monster to serve as virtual witnesses to the franchise’s version of the league’s new normal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.