The Jibsheet

The Border and Baseball

Zack Menchel / SPORTS EDITOR

The state of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, which gives police the authority to interrogate people they deem of questionable United States citizenship status, has officially made its mark on Major League Baseball.

Senator Robert C. Menendez  of  New Jersey recently voiced his displeasure with the new law by suggesting in a letter to the Major League Baseball Players Association’s Executive Director, Michael Weiner, that the 2011 All-Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix be boycotted.

Hernandez, a Democrat, voiced that he will not change his mind unless the law is repealed or the game’s location is changed altogether.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig has already stated that he will not pursue the notion of moving the game to another city despite the MLBPA’s backing of Menendez’s efforts. Selig claimed that minority communities think MLB is “doing okay” and that they’ve had no significant problems.

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a native of Venezuela, was the first big name to announce that he would refrain from participating in next year’s All-Star game festivities if the event remained in Arizona.

Meanwhile, on the other side of things, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce among other prominent local groups, have pleaded with Selig to keep the game as planned.

The organizations’ letter to the commissioner stated that the game’s relocation would take away job opportunities from local members of the Hispanic community, saying baseball shouldn’t become a “pawn in a political debate.”

Quite frankly, I think Arizona’s new “policy” is a real shame and accomplishes very little other than promoting racial profiling by higher authorities. Major League Baseball boasts not only a diverse fan base and demographic, but a multi-cultural array of players currently being featured on the ball field.

Some of the finest major league talents today are Hispanic, and it would be unfortunate if fans paid good money to see an All-Star Game void of Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, two fixtures at the mid-summer classic.

This is where my stance on the matter becomes divided. Due to my opposition of the Arizona immigration law, I would completely understand if Hispanic ballplayers chose to forfeit their participation in the annual exhibition game.

However, I do not think that the game should be shuttled to another state altogether. I second the notion that baseball should not be forced into a cyclone of political beliefs, and the game should be played as originally intended. Arizona was selected as the next host of the All-Star Game long before this law was passed. This is why I cannot fathom why Menendez seeks to hold Selig, and MLB as a whole, accountable for the current political firestorm.

People are just looking for a scapegoat here, and Sen. Menendez sees boycotting the 2011 All-Star Game as the only way to punish the state of Arizona for what he sees as unconstitutional. This is a situation that has “ugly” written all over it and will be something to watch.