The Charleston RiverDogs will take the field at Joseph P. Riley Park as planned tonight, Less than 24 hours after the deadly shooting downtown Wednesday night at Emanuel AME Church that claimed nine lives.
“We feel it is our duty not to let the acts of one radical human being dictate our lives,” said RiverDogs General Manager Dave Echols in a press release. The single-A Yankee affiliate say the team will donate funds from tonight’s game to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund set up by the city of Charleston.
The return of the nation’s pastime to New York after September 11, 2001 served as a rallying point after the terrorist attacks, a memory that’s not lost on the ‘Dogs front office.
“The RiverDogs will continue on as scheduled in hopes of providing a sense of normalcy and comfort to the Lowcountry,” says Echols.
Tonight’s 7:05 p.m. game against the West Virginia Power originally planned to honor the Charleston 9, the firefighters who died in the Sofa Super Store fire in 2007, and the team says the moment of silence and bell ringing will go on as planned.
Can’t make it tonight? The RiverDogs play at home all weekend. Check the schedule here.
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