Dodgers' Rich Hill: Trump Shouldn't Be Tweeting About World Series Hours After Synagogue Massacre
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill wasn't a fan of how President Donald Trump criticized manager Dave Roberts during Game 4 of the World Series, which was the same day of a deadly mass shooting.
Trump tweeted Saturday night – less than 12 hours after the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue – that Roberts made a "big mistake" by pulling the starter.
Hill told reporters Sunday that he thought the president should have been more concerned with Saturday's rampage that left 11 people dead at the Tree of Life synagogue – instead of decisions made by a baseball team's manager during a game.
"There was a mass shooting yesterday," Hill said. "The focus, in my opinion, of the president is to be on the country, and not on moves that are made in a World Series game."
Roberts pulled Hill in the 7th after 6 shutout innings. The move opened up the floodgates for Boston, as the Red Sox went to work on the Dodgers' relievers to pull out a 9-6 victory.
Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman echoed Hill's sentiment.
Trump was criticized on social media for his tweet.
When there was a synagogue shooting but the Dodgers are life
— Johnathan Zobel (@johnathan_zobel) October 29, 2018
Of course, you would be watching the #WorldSeries & not reaching out to families affected by the #TreeOfLifeSynagogue shooting. Your priorities are always on the opposite things. @MELANIATRUMP come get your husband & point him in the right direction, k thanks.
— Erikita (@ErikitainNYC) October 29, 2018
Agreed. Only reasonable move would've been for the manager to put armed guards around home plate. 2nd Ammendment keeps runners at 2nd base. Baseball has always been soft on crime, allows stealing. SAD.
— Paul Gangarossa (@PaulGangarossa) October 29, 2018
Trump tweeted twice about the attack earlier in the day.
Before boarding Air Force One Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters about revisiting gun laws. He said if people inside the synagogue had protection, the outcome may have been different.
"This has little to do with it. If they had protection inside the results would have been far better. This is a dispute that will always exist I suspect," he said. "But if they had some kind of protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a much different situation. But they didn't and he was able to do things that unfortunately he shouldn't have been able to do."