Donald Trump did not scare them off.
Many Giants knelt again during the playing of Tuesday’s national anthem, a day after several took a knee in a movement Colin Kaepernick spearheaded to protest police brutality.
Twelve players and coaches, including manager Gabe Kapler, were spotted on the field with a knee on the field before the second and final exhibition game against the A’s, this one at Oracle Park. Among those who protested: first-base coach Antoan Richardson, hitting coach Justin Viele and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, who did the same Monday, as well as Pablo Sandoval, Mauricio Dubon and Abiatal Avelino.
There were several others kneeling down the third-base line who were difficult to identify, and it’s possible more knelt in the bullpen. On Monday, reliever Trevor Gott and pitching coach Ethan Katz took a knee.
Kapler on Monday became the first MLB manager to join the movement, which has become increasingly mainstream after the viral death of George Floyd in the custody of Minnesota police, the country and globe dealing with a reckoning concerning institutional racism.
Trump, who has harped on the issue that divides the country, called kneeling “a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag,” again conflating the flag and the movement.
“I don’t see [kneeling during the anthem] as disrespect at all,” Kapler said earlier Tuesday. “I see nothing more American than standing up for what you believe in. I see nothing more patriotic than peaceful protests when things are frustrating and upsetting. And finally, there is nobody that should make us stop doing the right thing.”
Pablo and Pence among the Giants kneeling during the national anthem at Oracle Park pic.twitter.com/0mfAavodG4
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 22, 2020