The Week: "The League's silence is shameful."

Opinion Brief

 

Should MLB players boycott the All-Star Game over SB 1070?

Critics of Arizona's immigration law think that the biggest names in baseball, a sport in which 30 percent of players are Hispanic, are thwarting an opportunity to take a stand against the controversial legislation

posted on July 12, 2011, at 2:35 PM

The Phoenix, Ariz. Chase Stadium is decked out for the upcoming MLB All Star game: Players are considering a boycott because of the state's controversial immigration law. Photo: Shelly Castellano/ICON SMI/Corbis SEE ALL 71 PHOTOS

Best Opinion:  Huff. Post, Arizona Republic, ESPN

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and opponents of Arizona's controversial immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, are urging Major League Baseball's players to boycott Tuesday night's All-Star Game, which will be played in Phoenix. The law allows police to demand papers from anyone if they have a "reasonable suspicion" the person is an illegal immigrant, which critics say amounts to "racial profiling" of Hispanics. Activists say baseball players should make a stand because roughly 30 percent of pro players are Hispanic, but so far no All-Stars plan to sit out the game. Is that a disgrace, or is this really not their problem? (Watch an ESPN discussion about the controversy.)


The league's silence is shameful: When cameras pan across Major League Baseball's most famous faces Tuesday night, says Janet Murguia at The Huffington Post, "it will be a painful reminder" that Commissioner Bud Selig "failed to stand up for his Latino players, coaches, and fans." Selig should have by publicly denounced Arizona's SB 1070. Now the Hispanic community has ample reason "to stop supporting a sport that will not stand with us."
"2011 All-Star Game"


This is baseball, not politics: "What has happened with the All-Star Game is tragic," says E.J. Montini at The Arizona Republic, but not because players refuse to protest. The state's immigration legislation "isn't their problem." The tragedy is that people are acting like ballplayers are the bad guys because they won't boycott one of the biggest games of the year. Arizona has to deal with this issue "no matter what a group of young millionaire athletes does."
"Not the kind of boycott they wanted"


It is no surprise the players are staying out of it: The "cold truth" of Major League Baseball, says Jeff MacGregor at ESPN, is that the league has "a bad habit of hiding behind Mom and the apple pie whenever trouble starts." It left it to Congress to deal with the steroids scandal, and uses its antitrust exemption as a shield against criticism of greedy owners. By ignoring public pressure to boycott the big game, the All-Stars are just hiding "behind the apple pie again."
"All-Stars, mom and apple pie"