Social issues spilled over into the sports world this week, as players across all leagues refused to play in protest of the shooting of another Black American at the hands of the police. Jacob Blake was shot seven times by a member of the Kenosha, Wisconsin police department on Aug. 23, triggering a series of protests in cities across the country. On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks decided to sit out their playoff game against the Orlando Magic, the first domino in a series of postponements not just in the NBA but the WNBA, MLS, NHL, and Major League Baseball.

While the response in the NBA was fairly unified, the reaction in baseball varied team-by-team. On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Brewers joined the Bucks in postponing their game against the Cincinnati Reds, and games between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, and the L.A. Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were called off as well. On Thursday, matchups between the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays, and Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks were all postponed. All games will be made up with doubleheaders. 

The Rockies’ response was notable, because the night before, DH Matt Kemp elected to sit out the game (as have many other individual black players), while his teammates decided to play. After postponing Thursday’s game, star shortstop Trevor Story reflected on Colorado’s decision. 

“After thinking about it, I do wish that we may not have played last night,” Story said Thursday on a video call with reporters, according to the Denver Post. “We had a chance to stand up for our guy last night. We didn’t do that.”

That type of introspection is taking place across the sports landscape, as players and teams attempt to find the tricky balance between speaking out on the social issues they find important while working a highly paid job that serves as a respite from the unrelenting bleakness of the 2020 news cycle. It’s never going to be easy or perfect, but regardless of our own convictions, we should all respect athletes who take a stand on issues that are bigger than sports. 

As we cross the halfway point of the shortened 60-game season, here’s a look at the national TV schedule coming up on Sling. As we saw this week, all matchups are subject to change.

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