Several influential politicians are calling on Major League Baseball to pull the 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix after recently passes legislation to crack down on illegal immigration. The legislation is controversial because it allows for racial profiling to occur, something the majority of country feels unethical.
How this all related to the MLB, well, 48 percent of about 7,000 players at the major and minor league level are born outside the United States. At the major league level, about 27 percent of the players are Latino and would be subjected to the new law if they travelled in Arizona. Not only do about half of all major league clubs train in Arizona for a month a time, but the teams continue to use the facilities all year, meaning there players would be subjected to questioning potentially for an entire season.
That's where the MLB should go with this argument if they want to protest the bill. Yes, it is unethical for everyone who lives in Arizona, but Major League Baseball should say it is not fair for there players, who are a huge source of entertainment and revenue, to be subjected to this controversial law.
Arizona has always been tough on controversial decisions. In 1993, the NFL threatened to pull the Super Bowl from Arizona because they didn't recognize Martin Luther King Day at the time. If MLB pulls the All-Star Game, you can bet that there will be some reform to this bill. The ASG is such a big source of revenue for the team and stadium, but also for the hotels, restaurants, and other shops in and around the area. In other words, it would not be hard to find a replacement city.