The Boston Red Sox chose to sit out Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Some did to support a movement, others said they did to support a teammate who was supporting one.

Jackie Bradley Jr., the lone Black player on the Red Sox, informed chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Ron Roenicke Thursday morning he would not play that night in support of the movement against social injustice.

Roenicke said he talked to his staff around 1:30 p.m. [...]

The Boston Red Sox chose to sit out Thursday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Some did to support a movement, others said they did to support a teammate who was supporting one.

Jackie Bradley Jr., the lone Black player on the Red Sox, informed chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Ron Roenicke Thursday morning he would not play that night in support of the movement against social injustice.

Roenicke said he talked to his staff around 1:30 p.m. and had already planned to talk to the team once they started arriving at the ballpark in Buffalo, N.Y., around 2:30 p.m. He spoke with Bradley Jr. and first-base coach Tom Goodwin — who’s also Black — and had discussions with players all afternoon until a team meeting around 4 p.m. when the Red Sox decided, as a group, that they wouldn’t play in a show of support for Bradley Jr.

There was no team vote, according to Roenicke, and several players wanted to play. Roenicke — as well as teammates Xander Bogaerts and Nathan Eovaldi — also said Bradley Jr. said there would be no hard feelings if the team played and Goodwin was also on board with playing. Ultimately, the decision was made not to.

"The group felt strongly in backing Jackie in his beliefs and the issues that were going on," Roenicke said. "So that’s the decision we made in that meeting."

"To be honest, it was not an easy decision for a lot of us. We do stand with Jackie and we want to be in support of him, but a lot of us understand that us playing today is an escape for a lot of people and the reality of things that are going on in the world," Boston outfielder Kevin Pillar said. "It is an opportunity to get away from the news and the evil and bad that’s going on and be a distraction. This is what we do. It’s our responsibility as athletes to come to the field and play."

Eovaldi had a slightly different perspective.

"They were encouraging us to play the game," said Eovaldi, wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt as he sat next to Bogaerts. "They didn’t want us to make a decision based on them but I decided with everything going on, everybody showing support for those guys, everything that they are to the team, to the club, it’s the least we could do to show them the respect and support that they need for sure."

Roenicke was passionate and emotional in recalling discussions he had with Bradley Jr. and Goodwin, his voice nearly cracking on several occasions.

"This is really an important time in our country and what are we going to do? These guys have a platform to be able to discuss some things that are serious issues that we need to straighten out," Roenicke said. "I think we know how important baseball is, we understand that. That’s why we’re playing … we know it’s all important, but we know the issues in life are more important. Listening to Goodie and Jackie talk, it makes a big difference in our lives and should make a difference in everybody’s lives.

"If you’re a kid and you turn on the TV tonight and you don’t see that we’re playing and you ask your parents why aren’t the Red Sox playing, I hope the parents have a serious discussion with their kids and tell them what’s going on, explain what’s going on. We need to discuss these things more, we need to listen more and that’s the only way we’re going to change."

While discussions won’t solve problems, they do help increase awareness. Bogaerts, who’s from Aruba and whose mother is Black, said talking to Bradley Jr., Goodwin and trainer Brandon Henry — who’s also Black — has opened his eyes.

"Hearing the stories they’ve had to go through in the past, it’s sickening to hear and to have people go through stuff like that, it’s not right," Bogaerts said. "There’s no place, no room for that, for those types of actions. I’m 100 percent in support of just making this country better, helping it to get better and I know it’s not going to take one day, man.

"This is something that’s been going on for a lot of years now and it won’t change in one day, but today was a good step forward."

Bogaerts, Eovaldi and Pillar said, as of now, the plan is to play Friday night at Fenway Park as the Red Sox host the Washington Nationals. Friday also happens to be the day Major League Baseball is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, which usually takes place April 15 but didn’t this year because of COVID-19. Roenicke wasn’t sure what plans the organization had to celebrate.

The Players Alliance, an organization made up of over 100 Black current and former players, said its players have decided to donate their game-day salaries on Aug. 27 and 28 to the Alliance, "supporting our efforts to combat racial inequality and aid the Black families and communities deeply affected in the wake of recent events."

What will happen Friday won’t be known until Friday. As for Thursday, Eovaldi thinks the Sox did the right thing by standing by their teammate.

"[Bradley Jr.] came up and gave us a big hug afterward," Eovaldi said. "He gave me a big hug after and it just solidified the decision that we made."