The Boston Red Sox unveiled its display of a 250-foot Black Lives Matter billboard adjacent to Fenway Park, marking the 61st anniversary of Elijah “Pumpsie” Green’s first game as the team’s first Black player.
The billboard facing Massachusetts Turnpike behind the iconic stadium comes as major professional sports across the country continue to pay homage to the Black Lives Matter movement nearly two months after the police killing of unarmed Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests.
The Boston Red Sox have converted the 252 feet long by 20 feet tall billboard outside Fenway Park into a Black Lives Matter mural overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike. pic.twitter.com/i5mKyrbr39
— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) July 22, 2020
The unveiling also comes as the Major League Baseball season is set to begin tonight.
Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy has been outspoken on the issue of social injustice since the mass protests swept the country.
“Please know we stand with you,” Kennedy wrote in a statement on the team’s website under the title, “Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion.”
“Silence in the face of injustice is unacceptable,” he added.
The Red Sox were the last team to integrate a Black player onto its roster with the addition of Green in 1961.
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said players are free to express themselves as they wish during the coronavirus-shortened season, which includes kneeling during the national anthem.
“We haven’t told players you have to do anything,” Roenicke said. “We’ve given them the rights, which is what this country is all about and the freedom to do what they feel strongly about. So we have said what we think and what we’d like them to do, but we also want to give them the opportunity to express themselves.”
In exhibition games this week, players from the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds took a knee during the playing of the national anthem, with Giants manager Gabe Kapler becoming the first manager or head coach in any of the major sports leagues to also take a knee.
Kapler, 44, is the first MLB manager to take a knee during the anthem. https://t.co/bxftge5EXs
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 21, 2020
4 Cincinnati Reds players take knee during national anthem https://t.co/9ZAwVydMYH
— Bill Cunningham (@Willie700WLW) July 22, 2020
The MLB season kicks off tonight when the New York Yankees travel to Washington to take on the World Champion Nationals.
Boycott MLB
I Quote Your Commander in Chief !
“Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!”
Me Too!
As Mark Cuban responded: “Bye.”