Like so many other Americans Andrew McCutchen was moved to do something after seeing the horrific murder of George Floyd. After a discussion with his wife, McCutchen wrote an impassioned speech on equality that Major League Baseball played on Opening Night after having it voiced by Morgan Freeman. MLB played the speech before both Opening Night games, and will likely do so again today as the rest of the league gets started.
This and the kneeling by some during the National Anthem sparked outrage by some baseball fans, but others viewed it as a unifying moment. Hopefully most did. It's time we put our love for a song and a symbol behind our love for our fellow Americans. I've got the flag tattooed on my arm, and I thank our troops at the end of every show, so I'm pretty sure you're not going to win an argument that I'm not patriotic. However, I love my fellow American as much as I love that flag or that song, and as long as any of my American brothers and sisters are not being treated equally, I will stand by their side even if they protest in a way that makes me uncomfortable. Because that is a right we proudly have in America, and I love my fellow American as much as any symbol. All of them.