San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler says he will stand when the national anthem is played before his team’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Memorial Day.
“Today, I’ll be standing for the anthem,” Kapler said Monday on his blog. “While I believe strongly in the right to protest and the importance of doing so, I also believe strongly in honoring and mourning our country’s service men and women who fought and died for that right. Those who serve in our military, and especially those who have paid the ultimate price for our rights and freedoms, deserve that acknowledgment and respect, and I am honored to stand on the line today to show mine.”
Kapler had been avoiding the field during the national anthem as a protest following last week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, but said Sunday that he was considering suspending his protest in light of Monday being Memorial Day.
“I’m very comfortable taking it day by day,” Kapler said Sunday of his protest. “I think I’ll just decide what makes the most sense in the moment.”
“Memorial Day is an important day in our country’s history and a special day and a unique day,” he said. “I find it to be one that deserves special attention.”
On Friday, Kapler used his personal blog to discuss the mass shooting Tuesday that left 19 children and two teachers dead in Texas. The attack occurred just 10 days after a gunman espousing racist hatred killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
“Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place,” Kapler wrote on his blog.