The Chicago Cubs are being pressured by some fans to move spring-training operations to Florida, while MLB is being asked to move the All-Star Game. The baseball fallout from Arizona's passage of a controversial immigration law.
The Chicago Cubs are being pressured by some fans to move spring-training operations to Florida, while MLB is being asked to move the All-Star Game. The baseball fallout from Arizona's passage of a controversial immigration law.
Protesters were at Wrigley Field yesterday asking that the Cubs move spring-training operations from Mesa to Naples, Florida. A drive for a new Cubs spring-training facility have stalled, with the state legislature ending its session without enabling any funding mechanism and the city of Mesa unable to pay for the entire amount. In the meantime, the state of Florida has authorized some limited funds should the Cubs decide to make the move.
The final straw, say the protesters, is the passage of a controversial law designed to stem illegal immigration in Arizona. It's a little disingenuous and very misleading to say the law merely mirrors federal immigration law: it gives police a lot of latitude to stop people they deem suspicious. The end result, opponents say, will be widespread racial profiling.
The protesters at Wrigley Field aren't the only ones calling for some punishment for Arizona. Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has spoken out against the law and says he'll personally boycott the 2011 All-Star Game slated for Chase Field, while other state reps have called for the White Sox to shift spring operations to Florida, and U.S. Senators have called for MLB to move the All-Star Game.
So far there's no indication that MLB or any of its teams will take action. Still, if a large number of MLB players start opposing the new immigration laws, MLB and its teams will face pressure internally as well as publicly to do something, especially if we start hearing horror stories out of Arizona regarding the law's implementation.
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