Minnesota Twins: Series Postponed after Police Shooting of Daunte Wright
The Minnesota Twins announced a postponement of the series opener due to the police shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center Sunday afternoon. Discussion between the Twins, Red Sox, MLB and Minnesota State officials continue on the future of this series.
15 minutes after first pitch was set between the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox Monday afternoon, the Twins announced that the four game series opener would be postponed “Out of respect to the tragic events that occurred in yesterday in Brooklyn Center.”
The Minnesota Twins said in their press release they came to this decision based on the best interests of fans, players, staff, and community members in the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Wild were also set to play home games tonight but both teams postponed their games soon after the Twins.
In his pre game press conference, Rocco Baldelli said on the police involved shooting yesterday, “I think all of us, especially those of us in Minnesota right now are tired in a lot of ways of having these types of conversations and it’s a huge disappointment and sadness when you have to wake up to these things.”
Minnesota Twins president, Dave St. Peter, also released a statement following Monday’s game cancelation, tweeted out by Dan Hayes, Twins beat writer for the Athletic. St. Peter said, “We have a trial taking place just blocks away from Target Field. Emotions across our community, emotions across our organization are raw. Based on the events of the last 24 hours and as information has started to come to light, playing a baseball game today felt a little less important.”
Although most games are still scheduled to be played across Major League Baseball tonight, some players have considered sitting out their games. With the New York Yankees, center fielder, Aaron Hicks has already asked manager Aaron Boone not to be in the line up tonight following the murder of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center.
Designated hitter, Giancarlo Stanton, also considering sitting out tonight’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, as reported by Lindsey Adler of the Athletic. The only other MLB game postponed Monday was between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets in Flushing, NY. This games postponement was due to weather.
Currently the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox are still scheduled to play the remaining three games of the series at Target Field Tuesday through Thursday. There is speculation that this series could be moved to Boston by Major League Baseball, but no conformation as of yet from either the Minnesota Twins or Boston Red Sox if this is the case. As of now, Monday’s game has yet to be rescheduled.
Monday’s game for the Minnesota Twins would have featured a pitching match up between J.A. Happ and former Twins starter, Martin Perez. The lineup card for the Minnesota Twins was also published before the game’s cancelation, which would have featured Byron Buxton leading off for the Twins for the first time this season.
The Minnesota Twins currently sit with a 5-4 record in the young 2021 season. Their next series is scheduled against the Los Angeles Angels, in Anaheim, CA.