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MLB will stencil ‘Black Lives Matter’ onto pitching mounds

By Emily Adams

TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: A MLB baseball rests on the mound prior the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals at Steinbrenner Field on February 26, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: A MLB baseball rests on the mound prior the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals at Steinbrenner Field on February 26, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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The league will honor racial justice movements sweeping the country on Opening Day.

Since the wrongful killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May, the United States has faced a reckoning about systemic racism. Every major American sports league put out a statement in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the MLB will take it a step further when the season opens on Thursday.

According to Sports Illustrated, the league plans to to stencil the phrase “Black Lives Matter” onto the pitching mound in Nationals Stadium when the Washington Nationals take on the New York Yankees in the first regular season game of the year. While the Nationals game will be the debut of the mound stencil, all games this upcoming weekend will utilize it as well.

While calls for social justice demand action beyond words and symbols, this is a good move by the MLB.

Acknowledging the inequality that still exists in the U.S. between white and BIPOC people in the first step towards change. Players supporting the BLM movement have received criticism from detractors, up to and including the President of the United States, so important that they’re sticking to their support despite the backlash.

Players will also be able to showcase messages about social justice on jersey patches if they choose to. In 2018, 42.5 percent of players in the MLB were non-white, and several white athletes have issued statements of support for the movement, so expect to see lots of these patches on the field. Per ESPN’s Howard Bryant, the league provided players with a list of approved slogans for patches, which include “BLM” and “United for Change”.

The moment could be a turning point on racial inequality, and the MLB is using its wide-reaching platform to make a difference. When baseball is finally back on our screens, we’ll be reminded of what’s really important every time a pitch is thrown.

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