Mets, Marlins join in moment of silence before walking off, will not play tonight

The Mets and Marlins took the field shortly before 7:10 PM this evening, and just after doing so, the entirety of both teams’ rosters came on the field before everyone took of their caps and took, as Gary Cohen noted on the SNY broadcast, a 42-second moment of silence. Both teams then walked off the field, and a Black Live Matter t-shirt was left on home plate, and the teams will not play their game that had been scheduled for tonight in protest of racial and social injustice in the United States.

After the Mets’ win last night, Dominic Smith was emotional in talking to reporters about the Mets playing their game last night in the aftermath of the shooting of Jacob Blake and the protests that have ensued. Smith also spoke openly and emotionally earlier this year after the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, there had been uncertainty about whether or not the Mets and Marlins would play tonight, and a leaked video showed Brodie Van Wagenen talking about an idea—which he initially attributed to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred—to have the players walk off the field at 7:10 and return to play their game an hour later, an idea that Van Wagenen was clearly irritated by. He has since released a statement saying that the idea was Jeff Wilpon’s, not the commissioner’s.

Regardless of the account of that video and the idea that was mentioned in it, what the Mets’ and Marlins’ players did this evening was a powerful moment, one that stands out in Mets history and should not be overshadowed.