Major League Baseball announced the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will play a doubleheader Thursday to finish out their series at Oracle Park with the first game start time scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PT. Both games will be seven innings due to the league’s new rule.
The Dodgers and Giants players jointly decided to boycott Wednesday night’s game, following the lead of the Milwaukee Bucks and all other NBA teams, as well as some MLB clubs and other leagues across the country that are seeking change to social injustice and police brutality.
The movement was brought on by Jacob Blake being shot in Wisconsin, and some players believing their continuing to play was getting in the way of more important issues.
Mookie Betts was the driving force for the Dodgers as the team’s newest acquisition is already doing what he can to make a positive impact in his new community. The other Dodgers players followed Betts’ lead, and the Giants were also in agreement that it was best not to play on Wednesday night.
Dave Roberts, who is the first minority manager in Dodgers franchise history, was also planning not to participate if the game was played.
While the league has scheduled the games, it remains to be seen if the Dodgers and Giants players will be ready to take the field on Thursday. Clayton Kershaw, who was scheduled to start Wednesday night, emphasized they will follow Betts’ lead when deciding to play.
If the two teams do play though, it likely would be Kershaw and Walker Buehler starting the two games for the Dodgers, with Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb going for the Giants.
According to various NBA reports, the L.A. Lakers and Clippers players are voting in favor of boycotting the remainder of their season, so it seems that it could be an ongoing conversation into Thursday. The Dodgers and Lakers star LeBron James recently partnered together to make a polling center at Dodger Stadium this November, and both organizations have been at the forefront in creating change in regard to social justice this year.
Finishing season series
Thursday’s games are the final scheduled meetings between the Dodgers and Giants in the 2020 regular season, so if the players choose not to play than there may not be an opportunity to make the games up later in the year.
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