Giancarlo Stanton was one of several Yankees to donate their checks for Friday’s game in honor of Jackie Robinson. And Stanton was a rare bright spot on the night the Yankees wore Robinson’s No. 42 to honor the trailblazer.
Stanton’s two-run homer in seventh inning, his second of the season, provided the lone runs for the Yankees in an 8-2 loss to the Rays at the Stadium.
“He was the right man for a job he didn’t sign up for,” Stanton said before the game about Robinson, who was honored throughout MLB Thursday (when the Yankees were off) on the 74th anniversary of his breaking of the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. “It’s always an honor to wear 42 every year. A reminder of everything Jackie had to go through to be able to play this game that we love so much. All the hardships for no reason. For the color of their skin.”
Stanton, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and manager Aaron Boone were among the Yankees who donated their game-day salary to support The Players Alliance, a group of active and former MLB players seeking to improve representation of Black Americans in the sport.
“Obviously, a Hall of Fame player on the field, but also more than that, one of the most important figures in American history,” Boone said of Robinson. “I think when you consider the backdrop of what’s going on in the country over the last couple of years and the emergence of the Players Alliance, I think this is something that takes on even more meaning this year.”
Jay Bruce was out of the lineup for the third time in five games Friday night, with Rougned Odor starting at second and DJ LeMahieu at first. The former Mets outfielder has made 10 starts at first base with little offensive success. He has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats with nine strikeouts, a .118 batting average and one home run.
“Clearly, he’s been struggling a little bit, and our offense as a whole hasn’t clicked like we know it will,” Boone said of Bruce before the game. “And obviously with us bringing in ‘Rougie,’ he’s obviously gotten more run.
“So certainly [Bruce has] been one of the guys where it’s been a little bit of a struggle the last week, but that’s all part of it, as well.”
— Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff