WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22: Manager Gabe Kapler #19 of the San Francisco Giants looks on before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at the Nationals Park on April 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) CINCINNATI (AP) - San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Friday he will refuse to take the field for the national anthem in a protest over the nation’s political direction following this week’s school shooting in Texas."I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country," Kapler said before a series opener at Cincinnati. "I don’t expect it to move the needle necessarily.
It’s just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step."Kapler said he needs more time to consider specific actions he might suggest be taken to prevent more tragedies of this type, such as stronger gun control laws.Kapler said that on the day of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, "I knew that I was not in my best place mentally and I knew that it was in connection with some of the hypocrisies for the national anthem and how it coincided with the moment of silence and how two things didn’t synch up well for me, but I couldn’t make sense of it in real time and it took me a couple of days to pull all my thoughts together."Earlier in the day, he used his personal blog to discuss the deaths of the 19 children and two teachers killed in Uvalde.SEE ALSO: Warriors coach Steve Kerr fed up with 'children murdered at school'In a post titled "Home of the Brave, " Kapler wrote: "We elect our politicians to represent our interests.