BOYCOTT ARIZONA

Five people have been arrested in a hundred person protest outside the quarterly MLB owners' meeting in Minneapolis. They are protesting the MLB All-Star Game scheduled to be in Arizona in 2011. After the immigration law was passed, plenty have either protested or approved of this law. Essentially, Arizona took the immigration issue into their own hands, making it law that immigrants must carry their immigration papers or face arrest. While Bud Selig does not want to face this issue and venture into politics, he must.

This issue is a challenge for MLB more than the other major sports due to the large influx of Hispanic players. Every team has some, and while there are the insanely popular, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Ubaldo Jimenez; there are plenty of unknown Hispanic players. All of these players will face scrutiny by the Arizona police if not recognized as professional athletes. Without their immigration papers, these players could be arrested.

Already, Chicago White Sox coach, Ozzie Guillen said he would not attend the game if invited. (The World Series' managers are managers of the All-Star Game the following year, but they also choose what coaches accompany them). I am sure he will not be the only manager, coach, or player to boycott the event. They are right to do so, and all of MLB should stay out of Arizona, not just in protest of the law, but to protect their employees. The Players' Union and MLB have an opportunity to prove they care about their Hispanic players and front office employees by boycotting Arizona and bringing the 2011 All-Star Game elsewhere.

Boycotting the event would be detrimental to Arizona given it would bring tens of millions of dollars to their economy. There were 3 American League (Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, Robinson Cano ) and 5 National League starters (Hanley Ramirez, Martin Prado, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Ubaldo Jimenez) with Hispanic background. If those and the reserve All-Stars were to boycott next year's game, what would be the point of having it? Selig and the Players' Union could remedy this now by moving the game to a different state. If Arizona overturns the law, then keep the game there, but until they do, keep such a large event out of that state.

I'm sure many may agree and many may disagree with me, but this law is wrong. The last time people had to show their papers was in Nazi Germany, and no one ever wants to be compared with Nazis. Sure, immigration may be out of hand along the US-Mexico border, but Arizona needs to find a better way to slow it down. I'm sure there are plenty of Hispanics in that state, employees of MLB, tourists to that state have been citizens for years, but they could face arrest without proper documentation on hand. This is wrong. They are Americans, but will not be treated as such.

Look for Bud Selig to do nothing to protect his employees though, as he normally does the opposite of what is right. He doesn't want to venture into the politics of the law, and it is not hard to see why he wouldn't want to given the last time he was forced into politics was the steroid scandal. That didn't go so well for him or the rest of MLB when having to stand before the Senate. This is his chance to fight back, and fight for his employees. Whether he agrees with the law or not, he should boycott Arizona till the law is overturned. He won't though and it will be interesting to see what happens next summer when Hispanic players choose to boycott and whether that causes issues with other players.