For reasons that sometimes feel too horrible to even allow yourself to remember, gun violence in this country has taken center stage in the national discourse. And where there is such focused attention on any one topic, inevitably, there will be some connection to the world of sports.
Tonight, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays organizations decided to make that connection very explicit: rather than covering their game on social media as they normally would, the teams are instead tweeting out facts about gun violence. It’s one of the most bold things I’ve seen done by an MLB team, and I think it’s important for all of us to take note. This is a significant step in a league that is traditionally very reluctant to take any kind of stand on an issue, even one as near-universally-supported as the notion that we have to do something to curb gun violence.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2022
Source: https://t.co/p3PtlH3QNS
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
Citations: https://t.co/Hu33vUWzC1 and https://t.co/LKVrOTpapT
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2022
Citation: https://t.co/i21jUeYKnR
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2022
Citation: https://t.co/BP7W1xkYfw
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 27, 2022
Source: https://t.co/xrmPAitlZJ
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
Source: https://t.co/aIKP6TOlSf
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
This is a great deal more in each team’s Twitter feed, and I suspect more is coming throughout the night.