St. Louis Cardinals: Jack Flaherty and Dexter Fowler take a stand
The St. Louis Cardinals had two players boycott Wednesday night’s game in response to the Black Lives Matter protests going on around the country.
Hours before the St. Louis Cardinals were getting ready to play a rubber match against the Kansas City Royals; some news came out which shocked many fans.
Early Wednesday afternoon, minutes before the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic were supposed to take the court for a very important playoff game; both teams sent a shot that was heard around the world. Both teams decided to boycott Game Five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, WI.
The rest of the NBA teams that were playing that day quickly followed suit and decided to boycott their games as well.
What the players were doing spread around the country fairly quickly, and it carried over to the MLB as well. Around the league, some players decided to boycott their games in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting, police brutality, and systemic racism. Some teams decided to outright boycott their games, including the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, and Cincinnati Reds.
Though the St. Louis Cardinals ultimately decided to play their game against the Kansas City Royals; two Cardinals decided to take a stand and walk out. Dexter Fowler was slated to start in right field before deciding to boycott the game, and Jack Flaherty let America also know that he wouldn’t accept the madness that is going on in the outside world by walking out tonight as well.
The Cardinals quickly released a statement, saying “Dexter Fowler and Jack Flaherty decided to stand in solidarity with other players throughout Major League Baseball. Dexter Fowler is a healthy scratch in tonight’s game. The Cardinals organization supports their decisions.”
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What Fowler and Flaherty are currently doing is huge for the African-American community, and using their images to show that all Black Lives Matter. Though it is disappointing to see African-American’s in the United States hurting, it is nice to see athletes banding together to support a cause they believe in.
With Flaherty being a rising superstar in today’s MLB, he has also profiled himself into one of the more prominent social justice advocates in today’s game. Using his Twitter profile to spread his beliefs and do his part in creating equality in America.
Along with Dexter Fowler and Jack Flaherty, Jason Heyward of the Cubs and Matt Kemp of the Rockies also chose to individually sit out Wednesday’s game. This is a continued display that pro athletes are not afraid to use their platform to support awareness for issues they support.