The San Francisco Giants will have a new policy for the national anthem this season.
New manager Bob Melvin is requiring his team to stand on the field for the national anthem.
It’s a stark contrast to the previous manager, Gabe Kepler, who stopped standing on the field during the national anthem as a small protest to the federal government’s inaction after the mass shooting of schoolchildren in Ulvade, Texas.
Kepler also kneeled during the 2020 season after the George Floyd protests.
However, things will be different according to Melvin. But it has nothing to do with politics, according to an interview granted to USA Today.
“Look, we’re a new team here, we got some good players here,’’ Melvin told the newspaper on Friday. “It’s more about letting the other side know that we’re ready to play. I want guys out here ready to go. There’s a personality to that.
“It has nothing to do with whatever happened in the past or whatever, it’s just something I embrace.”
It’s yet unknown how the Giants’ clubhouse will embrace the new policy and if it will affect their on-the-field play.
Melvin told USA Today that he applied the same rules as manager of the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres, too.
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