The San Diego Padres' scheduled home game tonight against the Seattle Mariners has been postponed after the Mariners voted unanimously not to play in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier this week.
Tonight's Padres versus Mariners game was scheduled for a 6:10pm opening pitch at Petco Park in downtown San Diego, but the decision to cancel it followed the boycott of all three NBA playoff games scheduled for this evening, and the postponement of the Milwaukee Brewers against Cincinnati Reds game. There was no immediate official announcement from the Padres regarding when the game might be rescheduled.
"We understand the Mariners decision to postpone tonight's game and we support the players' efforts to use their platform to bring awareness to the very serious issue of racial injustice impacting our country today," read the statement issued by the San Diego Padres.
After the Brewers and Reds postponed their game, other MLB teams began discussing similar moves, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, including the Mariners, who have the most Black players in the league. The NBA boycott was initiated by the Milwaukee Bucks, who failed to take the court for their scheduled early afternoon playoff game against the Orlando Magic, telling league officials they were boycotting. It soon became apparent that the rest of the NBA teams scheduled to play Wednesday would follow suit.
"There are serious issues in this country," tweeted Mariners' player Dee Gordon on Wednesday afternoon. "For me, and for many of my teammates, the injustices, violence, death and systemic racism is deeply personal. This is impacting not only my community, but very directly my family and friends. Our team voted unanimously not to play tonight."
Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back in front of his three young children as he tried to enter his vehicle this past Sunday by 31-year-old Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey. Authorities have not provided any information about what led to the shooting, which was captured on video. Blake remains hospitalized with serious injuries, including reports from his father that he is now permanently paralyzed. Protests have occurred throughout Wisconsin and the rest of the country following this incident, including a protest in downtown San Diego on Monday evening that resulted in an officer allegedly being hit in the head with a cane and three arrests.
