Giancarlo Stanton leads Yankees speaking out against George Floyd killing

TAMPA — Giancarlo Stanton may be stepping a little out of his comfort zone, but he did it with authority. In response to the killing of 46-year old George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the protests that have spread across the nation, the usually quiet Yankees slugger added his voice loudly and clearly.

“Enough is Enough,” Stanton wrote in a post on Instagram and Twitter. “It’s going to take everyone to help this system change. No matter your color or attributes, We are all human, who know what’s right deep down. Making a real change will be Justice for Floyd & everyone who came before him. Let’s all be a part of the change.”

Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd, who was handcuffed and prone on the pavement, pleading for his life, saying he could not breathe, called for his mother. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for 2:53 minutes as Floyd was unresponsive.

As three other Minneapolis police stood around, bystanders tried to intercede on behalf of Floyd, who was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill to make a purchase at a local store. They also captured the Memorial Day incident on video that went viral, sparking outrage across the country.

All four officers were fired on Tuesday, and Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday.

The incident, the latest in a much-too-long list of unarmed people of color being killed by police, sparked protests across the country, from Minneapolis to New York. In Louisville, the outrage about Floyd’s killing came right after a lawsuit was filed in the accidental police killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed EMT who was shot in her own home. And it came weeks after video of the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black man in Georgia, went viral, forcing officials to finally charge the father and son duo who claimed they killed him while making a “citizen’s arrest.”

NBA stars and football players have been more vocal in the past during these incidents. Colin Kaepernick was ostracized and blacklisted by the NFL for simply taking a knee to protest the alarmingly growing number of police-involved killings of people of color and has been without a job for three seasons. He and other athletes who staged the non-violent protests were called “sons of bitches,” by President Donald J. Trump.

From Minneapolis to Atlanta to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, protests have grown violent and more and more sports stars are speaking out. Sunday, Mets’ Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso issued an emotional statement declaring he will be an ally to people of color as they fight against systemic racism. His teammate Marcus Stroman has been consistently vocal in his comments.

Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino also posted a tribute to Floyd on his social media last week, but Stanton has been the first of the Yankees to speak out so forcefully.

Former Yankees, and current Phillie, Andrew McCutchen also added his voice to protest movement.

“I feel for # FloydFloyd,” McCutchen tweeted. “He should be alive. I (don’t) want pity, I want change.”

With the protests spreading across the country, it’s harder and harder for baseball players to avoid the reality of the situation. In a sign of the changing times and shifting national crisis, the COVID testing site that was staged in the parking area across the Dale Mabry Highway from George M. Steinbrenner Field to combat the coronavirus threat was replaced Sunday. Now, that lot is housing National Guard troops and equipment. Tampa had protests that turned to violence and looting on Saturday night.

Stanton, who grew up in Southern California, has been working out at the Yankees spring training complex in Tampa since baseball was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic 11 weeks ago.