They do, I'm not sure if players would be expected to give special attention to "God Bless America", I've never paid much attention to the dugouts in the middle of the 7th inning to notice, but I would guess they aren't.
If the Rays did a "Church at the Ballpark" night and requested the players to wear a cross patch on their cap and jersey and some players opted out I don't think anyone would find fault. I think forcing players to partake in promotions is just a bad idea.
I am guessing the team knew beforehand they had players who wouldn't support it, so why put them in an awkward position? That isn't a display of unity either. The team could have/should have discussed this with the players to see if they would be on board, and if there was kickback they could have nixed it for the sake of team unity. Your comparison between wearing a piece of protective equipment to keep oneself safe versus a decorative patch patch doesn't quite work. Two completely different situations. The Rays did a great job of respecting the individual beliefs of their players and hopefully the rest of professional sports will follow suit. No one should be forced to participate in any promotion they don't feel comfortable with.
In just over a month, Luis Arraez has improved his average from .296 to .358 (including back to back hitless games last week!). Could we see him make a run at .400 this summer?
Seeing him win a batting title would be pretty amazing.
Agree with you, Arraez needs to be in the lineup everyday. Polanco's numbers have been down and hasn't been sharp defensively, Gio has been great and should be in the conversation.
How did they screw it up? Players have the right to exercise their freedom of speech and religion and not do something that violates their conscience. Kudos to the Rays for letting players opt out.
Not sure whats funny but I'd rather have the team win a road series against a better team going into the Yankees series than get swept, losing 7 out of 8 on their road trip going into the series.