As it got closer to game time and there were no players on the field -- only workers packing up equipment -- it became clear that there would be no game played between the Rockies and D-backs at Chase Field on Thursday afternoon.
Not long after the scheduled first pitch, word came down from the Rockies that they had elected not to play and the D-backs stood behind their opponents’ decision to postpone the game.
“I mean, choosing not to play a Major League Baseball game is a very big decision,” D-backs closer Archie Bradley said. “It's not something that was a spur of the moment or, ‘Hey, let's just do this because other people are doing it.’ There was a lot of thought and a lot of emotional conversations that went into the day.”
When he showed up to the ballpark in the morning, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo believed there would be a game played. But as he made clear Wednesday night, it was going to be up to his players to make the decision one way or the other and he would support them.
After Lovullo got done with his media session, he noticed the doors to the clubhouse had been closed and there was a players'-only meeting going on.
Bradley had given Lovullo a heads-up earlier that he was going to give his teammates a chance to continue their dialogue from the night before and see where everyone stood when it came to the appropriate steps they wanted to take.
Bradley had talked with D-backs hitting coach Darnell Coles, who is African American, as well as the Rockies' Matt Kemp, who had sat out Wednesday’s game in protest. He’d also watched and been moved emotionally by the video of Mets outfielder Dominic Smith talking about the struggles of being Black in this country.
After a lot of discussion, the Arizona players came to a decision: They wanted to do something that would make a statement, but also make a difference in practical terms.
So, they all agreed to donate their game checks from Thursday to an organization that is helping in the fight for social justice and equality. They are still finalizing which organization that will be.
In addition, they would wear their black alternate jersey tops for Thursday’s game and through the weekend.
They let Lovullo know of their decision.
“I was very proud of that decision that they had originally made,” Lovullo said. “And I'm glad that there was enough awareness in the room that they wanted to do something that was going to obviously show their support for this ongoing situation and that’s what I expressed to them.”
Lovullo got a call from Rockies manager Bud Black about an hour before the scheduled first pitch to say that the Colorado players were still talking and he wasn’t sure if his team was going to play.
“At that point, I laid out what our decision was and explained to him that if they decided not to play, the Diamondbacks would support that,” Lovullo said.
That was a sentiment shared by D-backs players, who looked at it as a joint decision in the end.
“Ultimately this is a unified decision between, not only two groups but I think league-wide you're seeing other teams do it, other teams did it yesterday,” Bradley said. “We talked about it, what message does not playing send and is that the right thing to do. It was an emotional talk, there was a lot of conversations and things brought up today between both sides that, as I said earlier, you know I think are tough conversations. They’re awkward, they're uncomfortable, but they're pushing the needle in the right direction in causing people to have to open their minds and be aware of what's going on.”
Not playing a baseball game is one thing, but the ultimate goal, Bradley and outfielder Jon Jay said, is that this just be the first step, one that opens dialogue between people. One that prompts kids to ask their parents why the D-backs and Rockies are not playing today and allows parents to explain the racial injustice that is going on in the world.
“It starts with today and what you saw yesterday,” Jay said. “We’re starting conversations.”