Hi everyone, Ben here. You may have noticed our absence from your feeds this week,

and since it's rare for us not to stick to our schedule, Megan Sam and I thought we owed our

listeners and Patreon supporters a brief explanation. During the difficult past few months,

some listeners have told us that effectively Wild has been a welcome distraction for them,

and we're happy if the podcast can occasionally brighten your day or provide some sense of community

for you as it does for us. But the act of creating a podcast is inherently somewhat self-serving,

and this week we felt it would be better to minimize distractions, make more room for other voices

to speak, and hope that the time you might have spent listening to us would be spent listening

to them instead. The murders of George Floyd and many other Black victims and the ongoing protests

stemming from institutionalized racism and police brutality have reverberated in the baseball world,

as well as everywhere else. The outpouring of public statements by baseball players,

teams, and MLB has amplified ongoing discussions about the role of race in the experiences of athletes,

fans, and journalists, and in the structure of the sport. Many media members have made important

points about the timing and content of those statements, as well as the issues that they don't

address, which we will make a focus of future episodes. For now, we will link on our show page

to some recommended baseball-related reading, and in lieu of our usual Patreon plug, we ask that you

consider supporting bail funds, police reform initiatives, and other causes devoted to addressing

the longstanding injustices that millions of Americans have so painfully felt new in recent days.

We support the protesters who have exercised their civil rights and the Black Lives Matter movement.

We look forward to returning to our regular programming and maybe bringing you some extra

episodes soon. Until then, we wish you well, we thank you for your inquiries, and we appreciate

your patience and understanding.

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