SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS- GABE KAPLER STARTS PROTEST DAY AFTER STANDING FOR ANTHEM ON MEMORIAL DAY.
Kapler told reporters last week that he will remain in the dugout until he ‘feels better about the direction of our country’.
San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler resumed his protest on Tuesday, choosing to remain in the dugout for the national anthem prior to San Francisco’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Last week, Kapler told reporters that he would not come out for the national anthem until he “feels better about the direction of our country,” following the Texas elementary shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
“I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country,” Kapler told reporters. “That’ll be the step. I don’t expect it to move the needle necessarily. It’s just something I feel strongly enough about to take that step.”
It was the fourth time in five days that Kapler did not participate during the playing of the national anthem. On Monday — Memorial Day — Kapler paused his protest, choosing to stand for the anthem to honor “our country’s service men and women who fought and died” in order to protect the right of protest.
On Tuesday, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, told reporters that he supports Kapler’s decision while saying that the organization will continue to play the national anthem before games.
“As an organization, we stand in lockstep with MLB on the importance of that tradition,” Zaidi said, according to MLB.com. “We obviously played the national anthem before all of our home games and will continue to do so. But our organization has also articulated our stance on this before, that our organization respects the rights and choices of Gabe, and all of our players and coaches and fans, to express themselves and their views peacefully in the way that they see fit.”
While the Giants’ organization supports Kapler, not everyone in Major League Baseball agrees with the Giants’ manager’s decision.
Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters on Saturday that the flag and the anthem were not “appropriate” places to protest.
“I think he’s exactly right to be concerned… with what’s happening in our country,” La Russa said Saturday evening, ESPN reported. “He’s right there. Where I disagree is the flag and the anthem are not appropriate places to try to voice your objections.”
“Some of their courage comes from what the flag means to them and when they hear the anthem,” La Russa continued. “You need to understand what the veterans think when they hear the anthem or see the flag. And the cost they paid and their families. And if you truly understand that, I think it’s impossible not to salute the flag and listen to the anthem.”
