To baseball fans horror, politics have finally intermingled with America’s pastime. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the executive decision to move the MLB All-Star game from Atlanta to Denver due to a new voting law that was passed in the state of Georgia. The argument should not be about the bill; the argument should be about whether or not baseball needs to be political.
Everyone knows politics have been involved with both the NBA and NFL for some time now, and there has been quite a lot of discussion about it. However, MLB made a point to shy away from politics, and give fans a chance to forget things like politics, and enjoy baseball. That is, until Manfred decided to move the all-star game.
Manfred stated “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft. Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.” However, Manfred did not speak to the Players Association before making this statement on behalf of them. Also, the main restrictions he is referencing is the new requirement that you must show a form of identification in order to vote. The irony of this is the fact that in order to vote in Colorado, the new location of the all-star game, you also need a form of proper identification to vote.
In future statements, Manfred mentioned how important he thinks it is that everyone have the right to vote, no matter what. Yet again, quite ironically, in the past six months Manfred has pushed to have MLB games played in China. That creates the question; was Manfred moving the All-Star game in order to push for change, or just to make a publicity stunt?
Fans throughout baseball (specifically Atlanta fans) let their voices be heard, as Atlanta fans were devastated to no longer have the all-star festivities take place in their hometown. Many fans even went as far as to demand a refund on their A-list membership with the Braves, as this deal originally came with tickets to the festivities.
“The Atlanta Braves are deeply disappointed by the decision of Major League Baseball to move its’ 2021 All-Star Game. Our city has always been known as a uniter in divided times and we will miss the opportunity to address issues that are important to our community.Unfortunately, businesses, employees and fans in Georgia are the victims of this decision.”
The Atlanta Braves had plans to honor the great Hank Aaron throughout their festivities. Now, the story is about politics, and not Aaron. One of the greatest to ever play the game is taking a backseat to a political publicity stunt made by Rob Manfred.
The new bill passed in Georgia may be a bad idea. Likewise, it could be a good idea. What isn’t a good idea is letting these politics intermingle with the entertainment we need to forget about this political madness. Fans want to watch baseball because they love the game, and they love sitting aside the outside world for three hours in their day. Yet, Rob Manfred wants to take that away. While there have been many legendary home runs in baseball, I think even instant replay would confirm MLB just struck out.
