Thanks to the controversy surrounding the Arizona immigration law that allows authorities to ask for proper documentation if a person appears to be in the country illegally, some Major League Baseball players - many of whom are Hispanic - have said they will boycott the All-Star game if the situation is not resolved.

By Dominic Genetti
Hannibal Courier-Post
Posted Apr 19, 2011 @ 03:07 PM

A note to fans of the Arizona Diamondbacks, bring your cameras to the games and take a lot of pictures because you may not see your favorite player in the All-Star Game.

For those fans who are curious, the “Mid-summer classic” will be held in Phoenix this season but the turnout in the stands won’t be an issue as much as the turnout on the field. Thanks to the controversy surrounding the Arizona immigration law that allows authorities to ask for proper documentation if a person appears to be in the country illegally, some Major League Baseball players - many of whom are Hispanic - have said they will boycott the All-Star game if the situation is not resolved.

And I don’t blame them one bit.

Phoenix is a very diverse city and for a law to be in place that would allow police or any public authority to ask for proper papers is wrong, wrong, wrong. It is racist and stereotypical for lawmakers to even consider such a law and for the stars of Major League Baseball to come out and say that they would boycott the 2011 All-Star game is very noble. It’s one thing for citizens to come out and protest, but when popular athletes of such a diverse game like baseball step up to the plate and say that they won’t participate in the All-Star game just because Arizona government is considering the immigration law is quite the statement. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is one of the players said to be avoiding the game.

But what really grinds my gears is that the head honchos of baseball wouldn’t even take the concerns of fans and players to heart when they said the All-Star Game would not be relocated. The statement will be huge if Hispanic ballplayers stick to their word and avoid the game entirely, but think of the statement that will be made if MLB removed the game from Phoenix all together. It won’t happen.

Big baseball fans like myself have to be reminded from time to time that our widely loved national pastime does have a business side and at this point especially MLB as a business more than likely has put too much money into having the All-Star Game at Phoenix’s Chase Field (the home stadium of the Diamondbacks) and to move the game to another city would be very costly. There are logos, marketing and local events that go into promoting the All-Star Game along with countless other things. A relocation is now, unfortunately, out of the picture.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig received a 100,000 signed petition to have the All-Star Game moved out of Arizona - and while I see the business side of his decision to keep the game in Phoenix - the commissioner could’ve at least considered it. Instead he put his foot down immediately and didn’t even go over the pros and cons. The game is scheduled for Phoenix and that’s where it’ll stay. He could’ve told reporters that he’s considering moving the event to another city; Kansas City would’ve been a nice relocation since they’re hosting the game in 2012. And there were plenty of other options. Washington, D.C. hasn’t hosted an All-Star Game since the second generation of the Washington Senators played there before leaving for Texas; the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays haven’t even hosted an All-Star Game since they came into existence in the ‘90s.

The newer stadiums have been the top picks recently for the All-Star Game, but considering the situation in Arizona, any stadium would’ve done just fine, even if the ballparks in Florida are shared with football and played under a dome. Washington has a new stadium, again, a perfect setting, the nation’s game from the nation’s capitol.

I’m disappointed in Selig because he showed no sensitivity to the issue, but I loudly applaud the Hispanic players. Their absence will say much more than anyone could imagine. I hope a solution comes soon, Monday’s upholding of the Arizona immigration law in federal court in San Francisco already says a lot, but it’s not enough, the law needs to disappear.

You have my sympathy Arizona baseball fans, just be sure to clear the cards in your camera and take tons of snapshots, chances are some of the players that only come to Arizona for one road trip a year won’t be back, even if elected an All-Star.