San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sam Coonrod refused to kneel along with his teammates and members of the Los Angeles Dodgers before their season opener, saying he could not join the Black Lives Matter protest because of his Christian faith.
“I don’t think I’m better than anybody. I’m just a Christian,” he told reporters after Thursday’s game, won by the Dodgers 8-1.
“I believe I can’t kneel before anything but God, Jesus Christ. I chose not to kneel. I feel if I did kneel I’d be a hypocrite. I don’t want to be a hypocrite.”
All the players and staffs of both teams, besides Coonrod, knelt before the playing of the national anthem in a continuation of protests following the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler joined two of his players, outfield Mike Yastrzemski – grandson of Baseball Hall of Famer and Boston Red Sox hero Carl Yastrzemski – and third basemabn Pablo Sandoval as well as Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts in continuing to kneel during the national anthem.
Players, coaches and staff during the other season-opening game Thursday between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals also kneeled.
Beside being Christian, Coonrod had objections with Black Lives Matter and its stated beliefs.
“I just can’t get on board with a couple things I’ve read about Black Lives Matter, how they lean towards Marxism. And … they said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that.”
Coonrod, 27, a second-year Major League Baseball veteran who was 5-1 last season in 33 relief appearances with a 3.58 ERA, said he discussed his decision to stand throughout with Kapler.
“He’s not going to get mad if I disagree with him, I think that’s part of the problem nowadays,” the St. Louis, Missouri, native said. “People get mad whenever someone disagrees. I’m not mad at someone that decided to kneel. I think it’s not too much to ask that I just get the same respect, you know?”
Friday began the first full schedule of games in MLB as it began an abbreviated 60-game season that initially was suspended in March during spring training due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. All games are being played in empty stadiums without spectators.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.