New York Yankees: Yankees may take a knee during National Anthem this season

Don’t be surprised if you see a New York Yankees player or even Manager Aaron Boone take a knee during the National Anthem on Opening Day at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Several San Francisco Giants, including manager Gabe Kapler, first-base coach Antoan Richardson, hitting coach Justin Viele and outfielders Jaylin Davis, Mike Yastrzemski, and Austin Slater, took a knee during the national anthem before Monday’s exhibition game in Oakland. Shortstop Brandon Crawford stood between Davis and Richardson and put his hand on their shoulders in a show of support.

Kapler, who has voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement on social media in the months following George Floyd’s death in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, said he spoke to the team beforehand and shared his plans to kneel.

You may ask what does all of this have to do with the New York Yankees.  It may indicate other MLB teams may show their support of the Black Lives Movement be taking a knee also.  Yankees slugger Aaron Judge who is multi-racial, said that he expects the team to discuss the issue. Judge last month took part in a Black Lives Matter video and applauded the statement made by Kapler and others.

“What I thought [was] that’s the beauty of America: freedom of speech and freedom to express yourself,” Judge said. “We’ve got a special platform being athletes, being able to speak our mind and speak to what’s going on in this world. Some people express it online. Some people express it with words. Some people kneel. Whatever message that we try to give out here, we want to try to express unity and that we’re all in this together.”

Even Yankees Manager Aaron Judge has expressed an interest in taking a knee but said he had not made any decision as of yet. Boone added:

“I’ll stand behind whoever has a strong feeling about it, one way or the other,” Boone said. “We’ve talked a little bit about it. We will talk a little bit more about things that are planned for Opening Day and beyond when we get together and meet in D.C. We’ll see where it leads.”

The New York Yankees traditionally stay away from public controversy. If the Yankees break from that tradition, it will reverberate throughout all of Major League Baseball. It should be noted that after the Giants took a knee, there were calls for a boycott of MLB on Twitter.