Mariners' Kyle Lewis, Justin Dunn and Mets' Dominic Smith participated in the discussionMLB.com
MLB on Tuesday unveiled a candid 44-minute panel discussion featuring a trio of players discussing "The Culture & Journey of the Black Baseball Player." The league views this as an important start to a new series of conversations involving current and former players addressing a topic that has garnered increasing attention during a national reckoning over social justice in '20. MLB execs want to ensure that the dialogue stays current within the game as baseball collectively tries to make positive changes everywhere from youth participation to front office representation. Mariners RF and Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis and P Justin Dunn, Mets 1B Dominic Smith and former MLB manager Jerry Manuel participated in the discussion powered by @MLBDevelops. The panel features conversations about the group's challenges and triumphs as Black men in both baseball and America. Among the other topics discussed are the formation of The Players Alliance and the COVID-19 pandemic. The full panel, which was moderated by Mariners play-by-play announcer Dave Sims, is available online. Below are some highlights:
- Lewis, on Black players being named Rookie of the Year in both leagues: "It's super special, man, especially with the tone of the country and tone of the world right now. ... This has been going on for a while, so we're always fighting to make our mark. ... If I have the opportunity to expand my platform in that way, or just do something that people can look at and get on there and speak well. I just take a lot of pride in that."
- Dunn, on conversations following civil unrest: "That day in San Diego was one of the saddest, but coolest, moments I've ever been a part of. To have someone like Dee Gordon get up in the middle of the locker room and kind of burst into tears and kind of show the pain. I think for a lot of our white teammates, [it] became real at that moment."
- Manuel: "It's good to see and it's good to know that the young people know that there is a difference, which there shouldn't be, but there is a difference when it comes to the melanin of our skin. The key is that as long as the mind is not enslaved, the body can be free. And that is what we need our young men to be -- is free. Free to express themselves, free to challenge the apparatus that is in place now."
