The Denver Post
Baseball is political — again.
Arizona's controversial new immigration law has unleashed a firestorm across the majors, prompting many to call for a boycott of the 2011 All-Star Game in Phoenix if the law is not modified or repealed. Protesters already have showed up at Diamondbacks games.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that America's pastime should mix with the hot-button issue of race. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, it was one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Baseball has long been a playing field for social issues.
Now the game, with more than 25-percent of its big-league players of Latin decent, finds itself smack dab in the middle of the immigration
battle.Last week, Michael Weiner, executive director of the the Major League Baseball Players Association, issued this statement: "We hope the law is repealed or modified promptly. If the current law goes into effect, the MLBPA will consider additional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of our members."
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, never one to hold his tongue, says he would boycott next year's All-Star Game.
"I'll support the players association 100 percent," said Gonzalez, who grew up in Tijuana and Chula Vista, a suburb south of San Diego. "If they leave it up to the players and the law is still there, I'll probably not play in the All-Star Game. Because it's a discriminating law. I know it can't be done, but they should take spring training out of (Arizona) if it's possible."
Venezuelan-born Yorvit Torrealba, the former Rockies catcher who plays for the Padres, told the San Diego Union Tribune, "Why do I want to go play in a place where every time I go to a restaurant and they don't understand what I'm trying to order, they're going to ask me for ID first? That's bull. I come from a crazy country. Now Arizona seems a little bit more crazy."
"An 18-year-old from Venezuela playing in the rookie league jumps in a friend's car to head to the grocery store. The friend rolls through a stop sign. A police officer witnesses the infraction. The law, signed last week by Gov. Jan Brewer, requires that 'where reasonable suspicion exists a reasonable attempt shall be made to determine the immigration status of the person.' The Venezuelan player, accordingly, is asked to furnish paperwork proving his legal residence, a new burden of proof under SB 1070. If he happens to have forgotten his passport and work visa at home, his friend would get a traffic ticket and the player would get significantly more.
'Under that scenario,' said Mike Philipsen, the communications advisor for the Arizona Senate Republicans, who drew up the bill, 'he could be detained.'
In other words, hauled off to jail, even though he is in the United States legally."
However, Brewer and other backers say the Arizona law is necessary because of the federal government's failure to secure the border and because of growing anxiety over violent crimes related to illegal immigration. They also say the law has been misunderstood and unfairly characterized by the media. They say articles such as Passan's are fear mongering.
A Gallup Poll released last week showed that 39 percent of Americans support the Arizona law, 30 percent oppose it, and 31 percent had not heard of it or have no opinion of the measure.
Dennis Brennan, a lawyer who writes a column for
examiner.com, takes issue the Arizona boycott movement, saying "baseball and silliness have taken center stage in the illegal immigration debate." He says, basically, that a lot of players don't know what they are talking about regarding the immigration law.
He also notes that Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler questions whether a baseball game was the proper venue to address the issue.
"Do people really think that boycotting baseball games in Arizona is going to eventually lead to removal of the new immigration law?" Ziegler wrote in a series of entries on
Twitter.com. "The players get punished, having to play in an empty stadium, for something that we have nothing to do with."
But immigration is a debate that's only going to get hotter. But no matter which side you come down on, it's naïve to think that baseball won't remain embroiled in the issue.
