The Mets' attempt at a walk-out protest turned into a convoluted calamity

• The New York Mets and Miami Marlins took the field for a game on Thursday, only to then leave the field in protest of racial inequality over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
• The Mets' side of the protest grew messy after a video showed team GM Brodie Van Wagenen criticizing an idea to do a symbolic protest by walking off the field, then returning to play.
• In the video, which appeared to be an accidental recording, Van Wagenen blamed MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for the idea, criticizing Manfred's leadership skills.
• After the Mets walked off the field, Van Wagenen released a statement saying the symbolic walk-out was from Mets owner Jeff Wilpon and he mistakenly attributed it to Manfred.

The New York Mets and Miami Marlins took the field on for a scheduled game on Thursday, only to then leave in protest of racial inequality. The protest was part of a string of protests across the sports world following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

However, the Mets' plans for the protest grew confusing thanks to a video that circulated on Twitter before the game. The video showed Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen criticizing MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

In what appeared to be an accidental recording, Van Wagenen told two other individuals who were off-screen that Manfred asked the Mets to do a symbolic walk-out, asking the team to take the field as scheduled, walk off, then return to the field to play.

"At the leadership level, he doesn't get it. He just doesn't get it," Van Wagenen said in the recording, which was posted to Twitter by user Nick Albicocco. Insider was unable to independently verify the footage.

The Mets shot down Manfried's request, Van Wagenen added: "That's not happening. They're not playing."

Adding to the confusion (for those that saw the video of Van Wagenen criticizing Manfred) was the Mets taking the field at all, despite Van Wagenen saying, "They're not playing."

As the Mets and Marlins left the field following a moment of silence, Van Wagenen released a statement through the Mets' official Twitter account, saying the idea of a symbolic protest actually came from Mets owner Jeff Wilpon. In the statement, Van Wagenen said he mistakenly attributed the idea for the symbolic walk-out to Manfred and apologized for "disrespectful comments and poor judgment in inaccurately describing the contents of [Manfred's] private conversation with Jeff Wilpon."

Later on Thursday, Jeff and Fred Wilpon both released separate statements criticizing Van Wagenen's misunderstanding of the situation. In their statements, they both misspelled Van Wagenen's first name as "Brody."

Here is the video of Van Wagenen criticizing Manfred:

In the video, Van Wagenen told the individuals that what he was saying "can't leave this room." He also added that the team had to be coordinated with the Miami Marlins in whatever they decided to do.

As the Mets and Marlins left the field, they draped "Black Lives Matter" shirt on home plate.

The strikes began on Wednesday when the Milwaukee Bucks did not take the floor for a playoff game in the NBA's Disney bubble. Four other NBA teams scheduled to play on Wednesday also sat out, sparking a wave of similar protests throughout the WNBA, MLS, and MLB.

On Wednesday, three MLB games were postponed after players opted to sit out. Several individuals on other teams also chose to sit out on Wednesday, even as their teams played. On Thursday, three more MLB games have so far been called off.

NBA teams still were not playing as of Thursday.

As ESPN's Jeff Passan said on air shortly after the Mets' walk-off and ensuing statement: "Mets are gonna Mets."

• Read more:
• Racial injustice brought the sports world to a halt. Here's where the historic fight is headed next.
• The WNBA's Washington Mystics wore shirts with bullet holes while leading the league to strike for Jacob Blake
• Michael Jordan reportedly played a key role as a liaison between NBA players and owners to help save the season
• An MLS owner spoke out against his players and canceled training at team facilities after they boycotted to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake