ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ? Any social-justice statement made by the Rays during Friday's season-opening national anthem won't be a completely collaborative demonstration.
The longest-tenured current Ray said Wednesday he plans to stand, though he supports any teammate who chooses to do otherwise.
"I love this great country we live in, and obviously there's a lot of crazy stuff going on right now, but I will be standing," center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said. "I can't speak for everyone else, but I will be standing."
Kiermaier, who begins his seventh full season with the club Friday, said the team has had conversations about what to do ? or not do ? during the anthem as protests for racial justice continue throughout the country. The general sentiment, he indicated, is to allow each player to express himself as he sees fit, with the support of his peers.
"We're not gonna make it a group thing like, 'Hey, we all have to do this or that,' " Kiermaier said.
"Each individual has a preference on what they want to do, and that's all I'll say on that matter, because we understand where everyone's coming from in many different ways. But at the same time, everyone has the right to do what they choose, and we have to respect that."
Right-handed reliever Pete Fairbanks concurred.
"I haven't made up my mind on what I plan to do for the anthem," he said. "If people want to kneel, if they don't want to kneel, that is their right to do that through the First Amendment and ... the people who fought to uphold that freedom. So whatever stance people take, I'm all for."
