(670 The Score) Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer stopped short of directly saying the club regretted playing its game against the Tigers on Wednesday evening as many teams across the sports landscape refused to take the field or court in protest against racial injustice, but there was noticeable anguish in his tone as he addressed the topic Thursday.
Hoyer expressed regret that the Cubs didn’t have more time to hold a meaningful discussion about whether to play after outfielder Jason Heyward, an African-American, chose to sit out in protest.
“It certainly felt like we didn’t have the amount of time that you would’ve wanted to have to process a team-wide decision, to be candid,” Hoyer said on the McNeil & Parkins Show. “Guys were in game-prep activities, getting loose, Jon Lester was warming up. Our guys were trying to get ready to play a game they had been preparing for all day. Suddenly, we were in a situation where I think people were very torn. A lot of players were torn playing yesterday. Obviously, Jason was encouraging us, our players to go out and play, but I think still some guys felt torn. It felt like we were rushed for a decision. I think that was unfortunate, but that’s the nature of the world we’re living in. Things go minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour. Certainly, it was not an amount of time you would’ve wanted as a team to have a really open discussion about how to move forward as a group.”
First pitch was scheduled between the Cubs and Tigers for 6:10 p.m. CT. About 40 minutes before game time, the Cubs announced that Heyward was a healthy scratch. That came after he met with manager David Ross to express his feelings and emotions on a difficult day and during a difficult week after police shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday, which has sparked protests and also led athletes to call for change.
Hoyer wasn’t with the team in Detroit, so his correspondence included a Facetime call with Ross that informed management of Heyward’s decision. Heyward encouraged his Cubs teammates to play the game. The Brewers-Reds, Padres-Mariners and Giants-Dodgers games were postponed after players chose not to play as a form of protest. Earlier, the NBA had postponed all three of its scheduled playoff games after the Bucks refused to take the floor in protest.
Hoyer was asked directly if the Cubs had regret.
“That’s hard to say,” Hoyer said. “We didn’t have the time to really be able to process the decision.
“Any regret is regret is not being able to have the time and the calmness to have a discussion that the gravity of the situation warranted. We were up against the clock to play. Guys were sort of in their game prep. It felt rushed. I think that’s the regret. There’s no point in going back and looking back at the decision with regret, because I feel that’s how we had to make it. The West Coast teams had sometimes two or three more hours to make that decision and have time to have the team meetings.”
If Cubs players choose to not play their scheduled game at the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, they’ll have full support of chairman Tom Ricketts and the ownership group, Hoyer said.
“Yeah,” Hoyer said. “Yesterday, we didn’t know which direction that was going to go leading up to the game. Certainly, we were talking to Tom about that situation. He was very supportive of Jason’s decision. That’s the key for us, is that as a collective, we have to make a decision and I think there will be discussions tomorrow and they’ll make a decision about how to move forward. But there’s no question that ownership would be on board with whatever the players choose to do.”