Twins, Tigers decide to postpone series opener amid protests

The Twins and Tigers have postponed their Thursday night series opener at Comerica Park.
“The Minnesota Twins remain committed to using our platforms to push for racial justice and equality,” the club said in a statement. “Therefore, we fully respect our players for their decision to not play tonight’s game

The Twins and Tigers have postponed their Thursday night series opener at Comerica Park.

“The Minnesota Twins remain committed to using our platforms to push for racial justice and equality,” the club said in a statement. “Therefore, we fully respect our players for their decision to not play tonight’s game versus the Detroit Tigers. The recent shooting of Jacob Blake, a mere three months after the killing of George Floyd, shows again that real change is necessary and far overdue in our country, and it is our responsibility to continue playing a role in efforts to affect meaningful reform. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and, as full partners with others in the Twin Cities and beyond, we are committed to creating the change we want to see in the world — where everyone is protected, safe and welcome. There is no place for racism, inequality or injustice in our society.”

The Phillies and Nationals, Rangers and A’s also postponed their games on Thursday as athletes and teams across sports leagues also announced a wide range of postponements as a response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.

Minnesota and Detroit had both played their games as planned on Wednesday. Manager Rocco Baldelli said following Thursday’s game that the Twins did not have a chance to hold a team meeting about the circumstances before their series finale in Cleveland.

“I know we’re starting to see things we’ve never seen before, and I think that’s a good thing,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said on Thursday. “I think we’re learning a lot about the power and influence that we have and we obviously saw that in the NBA. We saw it in Major League Baseball today so we’re going to continue to watch and continue to converse and discuss everything related to what’s going on because we do have that influence.”