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Anthony Rizzo: 'Politicians Really Don't Give a F--k About Us'
August 27, 2020
Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo expressed his frustration with the suffering that is going on in many parts of the country after the police shooting of Jacob Blake on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the lack of response from politicians following his team's loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.
"S--t doesn't change," he told reporters. "And it's just the fact of the matter. Politicians really don't give a f--k about us. All they care about is their own agenda. This is just the way it is and it's upsetting. I'm sorry to use that language and go off. It's upsetting."
Rizzo started his statement by saying, "I've gone through a lot with my high school." The Cubs first baseman attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a mass shooting occurred in 2018. Rizzo took some time away from the team following that tragedy and spoke at a vigil held for the victims.
As for recent events, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported Rizzo's teammate, right fielder Jason Heyward, elected to sit out Wednesday's game following the shooting of Blake.
Mooney also noted Heyward encouraged his teammates to play.
Games between the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, and Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were all postponed after the shooting of Blake and the subsequent player-driven protests.
"Given the pain in the communities of Wisconsin and beyond following the shooting of Jacob Blake, we respect the decisions of a number of players not to play tonight," Major League Baseball said in a statement. "Major League Baseball remains united for change in our society and we will be allies in the right to end racism and injustice."
Both the NBA and the WNBA announced their games scheduled for Wednesday were postponed following players' protests. The Milwaukee Bucks took the first step to sit out their postseason contest against the Orlando Magic.
Blake was shot in the back seven times by police, and his family said he is paralyzed from the waist down.