I have been asked to comment on the role of baseball and politics, specific to MLB and the All Star Game in Arizona.
I don’t want to debate the law on this site. It’s not what we do here.
I’m trying to think about where baseball making a statement would end.
Say baseball takes the All Star Game away from Arizona and moves it to Flushing. What if the NRA smells blood and sees that MLB can be pressured, so the NRA decides to use the game to protest Bloomberg’s handgun policy. Then what?
What about a player? Folks sit out All Star Games for all sorts of reasons. What about a three game series against the Diamondbacks? Do you sit that out? What if you are traded to Arizona?
I saw a protest outside Wrigley against the Diamondbacks. As if the actual Diamondbacks have anything to do with it. It’s 25 guys who wound up playing for a team that could just as easily be called the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Players have celebrity status which they can use whether they want to sell sneakers, raise awareness for a charity, date Madonna or speak out on issues.
Perhaps a player or players could use their platform to encourage discussion and an exchange of ideas.
I’m not smart enough to solve this one. All I know is the Arizona baseball team has a dopey name, a stupider short form name and some really fugly uniforms.
Speaking of which, I’m just trying to rid the world of black uniforms, failing miserably, but will take another stab in an hour.