It’s not very often you hear good solid, pro-American news coming out of San Francisco, but Giants manager Bob Melvin just changed that.
Melvin, who was hired as the 39th manager in Giants franchise history, just made one of his first moves prior to the 2024 MLB season – and it’s a good one.
“When the national anthem is playing, the San Francisco Giants better be on the field,” the New York Post writes.
Bob Melvin Will Require His Team To Stand For The National Anthem
You heard that right.
Bob Melvin, the new manager of the San Francisco Giants, has implemented a policy change requiring every person in the Giants dugout to stand on the field for the playing of the national anthem.
Melvin though, says it has very little to do with politics and is more about fostering team chemistry.
“Look, we’re a new team here, we got some good players here,’’ Melvin told USA Today. ”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.”
Bob Melvin’s national anthem policy is a drastic change from the previous approach taken by former manager Gabe Kapler, who stopped being on the field for the anthem in 2022 after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Kapler protested the anthem at the time and said he wouldn’t respect it “until I feel better about the direction of our country.”
Feeling better meant implementing gun control laws.
“I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country” – Gabe Kapler pic.twitter.com/J1MdlVL3XI
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 27, 2022
Kapler did stand for the anthem on Memorial Day that year out of respect for veterans but continued his protest afterward.
Kapler was fired from his position as the manager of the San Francisco Giants in September of 2023. The decision to fire him came after the Giants missed the postseason for a third time in four tries under his leadership.
The team had made the playoffs just once during his four-year tenure, despite having a winning record in three out of those four seasons.
Bob Melvin was hired less than a month later.
It may not be a political move in Bob Melvin’s eyes, but liberals in San Francisco are going to have a coronary when they learn about this policy.
Once they’re done looting the local Walgreens and defecating on the sidewalks, they might just give him an earful.
