Former MLB star catcher Jonathan LeCroy spoke about Major League Baseball's unique handling of the national anthem controversy during the shortened 2020 season.
Amid a summer of racial tensions sparked by the killing of George Floyd, players took a knee during the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Lucroy said he was asked to kneel but refused the request. He did not reveal his team, but spent the 2020 season with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.
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Boston Red Sox No. 12 Jonathan LeCroy warms up before the Red and White game during summer training at Fenway Park in Boston on July 12, 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
“I posted about it on Twitter the other day, but a lot of things have happened during my career and I don't want to criticize a team specifically or anything like that. That's not what I do. “He told Charlie Arnolt on Tuesday's “OutKick the Morning.”
“But in general, you know the teams that they're down, they don't want you to get political, they don't want you to be politically polarized. They don't want you to lean a certain way, they just want you to stay neutral and shut up, but the problem is, I was on a team that told them to kneel for the national anthem. , and I pointed the finger at them, and I was like, no, I would never do that. That's never, never, never. You're not going to make me, you have nothing – I'm not doing that.
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Former Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy waves to fans before a game against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field after officially retiring as a Brewer. (Benny Shue-USA TODAY Sports)
“We were told by our team to get the vaccine, and if we didn't get the vaccine, we couldn't see our families for three months. That went from the CDC to MLB, and then MLB It wasn't the team's fault, but kneeling during the national anthem was a big deal to me, and it started a few years ago when I got really interested in the culture wars we were fighting. That was it. ”
Earlier this month, Lucroy opened up about the national anthem issue in a post on X.
Lucroy played 12 seasons with nine different teams, most of which were spent with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers selected Lucroy in the third round of the 2007 draft out of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan LeCroy (No. 20) waits in the batting cage before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on April 18, 2015. (Charles LeClair-USA TODAY Sports)
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He had a batting average of .274 and hit 108 home runs. He was named an All-Star in 2014 and 2016.
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