McAdam: In support of a teammate and coach, Red Sox elect not to play final game with Jays

Red Sox players decided not to play the final game of their series with the Toronto Blue Jays, scheduled for 6:37 p.m. in Buffalo. The players wished to further attention to the events in Kenosha, WI this past week and to highlight the need for social justice.

Red Sox players assembled mid-afternoon and made that determination.

Earlier in the day, Jackie Bradley Jr. informed the team and his fellow teammates that he would not be playing tonight if the game did take place as scheduled. Bradley is the lone African-American player on the Red Sox major league roster. His stance was similar to the one taken by Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward, who informed his teammates Wednesday that he would be playing, but urged them to play if they wished.

Though the Blue Jays had voted to play the final game of the series, when they got word of the Red Sox' decision, they were in full support.

There was no word Thursday night about rescheduling the game. This series represented the only trip to Buffalo for the Red Sox in this shortened series, though the Blue Jays return to Fenway for a four-game series Sept. 3-6 and presumably, the game could be made up then with a double-header.

"(Bradley) told them what his decision was,'' said manager Ron Roenicke. "He said, 'This is my decision; I'm fine if you want to play. It's an individual thing and a decision that we all have to make.' He said he was fine if they wanted to go out and play. But that's now the group felt. They felt strongly in backing Jackie and his beliefs and the issues that are going on.''

In a meeting at Sahlen Field, the Red Sox decided to support Bradley and coach Tom Goodwin, who also addressed the team.



"We're in full support of Jackie,'' said Xander Bogaerts. "We're actually in really full support of these guys, man. It's been a tough day, a tough situation. We want this to get better. We want the world to be in a better place. We're 100 percent behind Jackie.''

Kevin Pillar, who has emerged as a team leader in his first season with the Sox, said the team has grown exceptionally close because of the pandemic and this provided an opportunity to demonstrate their unity.

"We're all family in this group,'' said Pillar. "More so than ever this season, with a lot of us being away from our actual family, we rely on each other for more than just baseball. These are brothers we lean on. The silver lining of this year is that it's made it a little more comfortable in having these uncomfortable conversations.''

Pillar revealed that deciding not to play the game "was not an easy decision for a lot of us,'' because some players were convinced that playing the game would serve as a distraction for a country in turmoil and "an opportunity for all the evil that's going on.''

Ultimately, however, the Sox determined that fully supporting Bradley and others was of greater importance.

"It's one game, but the power and impact that we have, standing with those guys and their decision,'' said Pillar,  'hopefully speaks volumes."

''Everybody wanted to support Jackie,'' said Roenicke. "I wanted to hear from everybody and their decision was to back Jackie (and not play the game). We wanted it to be the players' decision and that's why all the conversations were held and that's what they decided."

Earlier, Roenicke had sought input from a number of veteran players.

"I wanted to hear from them,'' said Roenicke. "I wanted to know what was on their mind, what they were thinking, what they wanted to do. They felt strongly about backing Jackie. That's basically what it came down to. It wasn't like I had a vote, where somebody wrote something down on paper. It all basically discussions and what they told me they wanted to do.''

Roenicke described the afternoon as ''emotional'' and in recounting the exchanges from Bradley and Goodwin to reporters, frequently got choked up.

"This is really an important time in our country and what are we going to do,'' said Roenicke. "These guys have a platform to be able to discuss some things that are serious issues in our country that we need to straighten out,. We know important baseball is; we understand that. That's why we've been playing. We're playing through the pandemic that's going on.

"But we know the issues in life are more important. And listening to Goody and Jackie talk, it makes a big difference in our lives. And it should make a big difference in everybody's lives. If you're a kid and you turn on the TV tonight and see we're not playing and you ask your parents, 'Why aren't the Red Sox playing?' I hope the parents have a serious discussion with their kids. And tell them what's going on, explain what's going on, because we need to discuss these things more. We need to listen more. That's the only way we're going to change.

"Hopefully what we do here and what's been done, leads to (conversation and change) because there needs to be a change in this great country that we live in.''

Roenicke has spent his entire adult life in baseball and has earned his living in the game, But he emphasized the need to place it in context given the circumstances.

"Baseball's been awesome,'' he said. "It's been great for me and my career. I had the opportunity to play in it, then coach and manage.But it's about life. I love baseball, but it's about more than baseball. It's about how we treat people.''

On Wednesday night, when four other games on the Major League Baseball calendar were postponed -- along with entire slate in the NBA, WNBA and MLS -- the Red Sox said the prospect of a postponement did not come up in the clubhouse pre-game -- in part because of timing. The 6:37 p.m. start time was one of the earliest Wednesday.

Bogaerts acknowledged that had the Sox had a later start time Wednesday night and more time to consider their options, they might have agreed not to play.