New San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin has instituted a new rule for his club in his first year with the the franchise, and it’s difficult to miss during spring training. Melvin is requiring every person in the team’s dugout to stand for the national anthem, and he explained why.
“It’s all about the perception that we’re out there ready to play,” Melvin said, per The Athletic. “That’s it. You want your team ready to play, and I want the other team to notice it, too. It’s really as simple as that.”
Melvin also made it clear his reasoning has nothing to do with politics, which would contrast with the team’s former manager, Gabe Kapler, who stopped taking the field during the national anthem in 2022 after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and kneeled in protest for several games in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd sparked protests across the country.
How many players can you fit in a dugout ???? pic.twitter.com/TR7s9xhARY
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 24, 2024
“Look, we’re a new team here. We got some good players here,” Melvin said Friday, per USA Today. “It’s more about letting the other side know that we’re ready to play. I want guys out here ready to go. There’s a personality to that.”
