The 15 minutes of the SNY telecast between the New York Mets and Miami Marlins was what seemed like an eternity of eerieness and suspense. It looked like a standard game, with all the players in uniform and even stretching before the 7:10 start, but things changed instantly.
Mets and Marlins had 42 seconds of silence to honor Jackie. Now the Mets have left the field.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 27, 2020
For the time between 7:00 and 7:10, players from both teams were outside their dugouts, and some on the field performing pre-game routines. Michael Wacha had not thrown a warmup pitch at any point, which made it evident at that point that there would be no baseball.
The Long Five Minutes
During the time between 7:10 and 7:15, the Mets were led out of the dugout by Dominic Smith and Billy Hamilton, the two black players on the active Mets roster. Their infielders warmed up, while Wacha and catcher Wilson Ramos just stood there watching for leadoff hitter Lewis Brinson to be announced.
After Brinson stepped into the box, Wacha stepped off the mound, and players from both teams lined up in front of their respective dugouts. They removed their caps and took a 42 second moment of silence on the eve of Jackie Robinson Day, which is celebrated by all teams on Friday.
After the 42 seconds ended, both teams tipped their caps to themselves and walked off the field. A lone “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt was left on home plate by Brinson and displayed on the scoreboard.
https://twitter.com/NickCocco18/status/1299097093685104648
Brodie’s Face Turn
A leak from about 6 p.m. showed Brodie Van Wagenen discussing an idea Rob Manfred had for the players to leave the field at 7:10 p.m. then return to play an hour later. He criticized Manfred’s leadership ability saying, “he just doesn’t get it.” After it broke, Van Wagenen released a press release saying it was Jeff Wilpon’s idea but with the corruption between Wilpon and Manfred, who knows who is being truthful.
Throughout the chaoticness of today, what both teams did are getting attention. Whatever emotion it made you feel, it did exactly what their goal was…create emotion and continue the conversation. Friday’s doubleheader is still up in the air, but if they play, game one against the New York Yankees starts at 4:10 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium. Michael Wacha likely takes the mound against Jordan Montgomery.