No All Star Game in Atlanta This Season?

[bravesfanforlife88]

LINK

With the new voting rights law signed into law yesterday, some are suggesting that the MLBPA should urge MLB to move the all star game out of Atl this summer....Tony Clark seems to be on board.

[bravesfanMatt]

Baseball is already struggling for fans. Why jump into politics where you are guaranteed to piss off half your base. Regardless of how you feel. Stay out of it and just make your money.

[PawPawMaxwell]

More posturing for the next bargaining go-round.

[jpx7]

Baseball is already struggling for fans. Why jump into politics where you are guaranteed to piss off half your base. Regardless of how you feel. Stay out of it and just make your money.

I'm not arguing the moral merits of Georgia's freshly-minted laws (though most long-time posters can already guess how I feel about this), but the answer to why jump into politics is two-pronged: (a) politics is not abstract for a lot of MLB players, or at least for their extended families et cetera, and moreover (b) this sort of economic pressure has been shown to be quite effective.

A third point I'd make is that "stay out of it and just make your money" is itself a very certain kind of political stance, but I digress.

[PawPawMaxwell]

The MLBPA is not a real large organization considering only those on MLB rosters get to vote (1200) and an additional point, unlike NFLPA and NBAPA, a significant number of latino players really have no say in US politics. Im not taking sides on this at this point in my life, too few days/months/years left, but it IMO, this is already a power play for next winters negotiations.

[jpx7]

The MLBPA is not a real large organization considering only those on MLB rosters get to vote (1200) and an additional point, unlike NFLPA and NBAPA, a significant number of latino players really have no say in US politics. Im not taking sides on this at this point in my life, too few days/months/years left, but it IMO, this is already a power play for next winters negotiations.

There's probably a hefty dose of Column-B (good PR for the MLBPA) mixed in with Column-A (actually caring about the issue)—especially since flexing like this demonstrates that, while the MLBPA might be "not a real large organization" in terms of membership, they are a pretty large organization in terms of economic impact.

Personally, I'm (practically) always pro-players, so if this whole discussion-point only has the effect of helping the players vs the owners in the next CBA negotiation, I think that's still a net positive, even if it does nothing to otherwise move needles in Georgia.

[Enscheff]

Leave it to the South to continue with their Jim Crow ways and then complain about the consequences as if they are somehow the victims.

It would be laughable if it weren't so disgusting.

[clvclv]

Leave it to the South to continue with their Jim Crow ways and then complain about the consequences as if they are somehow the victims.

It would be laughable if it weren't so disgusting.

Unfortunately this is on point...

If you don't want everyone else to keep thinking of you as a bunch of racist backwoods rednecks, stop acting like them.

[The Chosen One]

If Hammerin Hank were still with us, he would have been a very effective person to get MLB and the Braves to speak out about the newly passed laws in Georgia.

He was a civil rights leader and would have not been afraid to use his status as an i i iconic Atlanta figure to speak out.

[goldfly]

Baseball is already struggling for fans. Why jump into politics where you are guaranteed to piss off half your base. Regardless of how you feel. Stay out of it and just make your money.

cause there are things more important than money

[jsebe10]

Unfortunately this is on point...

If you don't want everyone else to keep thinking of you as a bunch of racist backwoods rednecks, stop acting like them.

Heaven forbid you have a god damn ID card, mortgage statement, or bank statement proving who you are so that you may vote...

[VirginiaBrave]

Leave it to the South to continue with their Jim Crow ways and then complain about the consequences as if they are somehow the victims.

It would be laughable if it weren't so disgusting.

Somehow we never get out of our own way. Three steps forward two backward.

[goldfly]

Heaven forbid you have a god damn ID card, mortgage statement, or bank statement proving who you are so that you may vote...

weird, when i ask for extra steps to make sure people buying guns aren't insane

i heard idiots scream about "their freedom"

[clvclv]

Heaven forbid you have a god damn ID card, mortgage statement, or bank statement proving who you are so that you may vote...

Apparently you have no clue how many people - particularly minorities living below the poverty line - have NONE of those.

I have absolutely no problem asking people to provide a picture ID when they go to vote - as long as the people screaming about how it's so easy to do pay for those IDs. I'd support it 100% if the idiots in congress that want that pay for them. Asking someone to fork over $10 to get one to exercise a right they have rather than pay for a meal is a little beyond ridiculous. If they did that and continued to vote, the folks on Capitol Hill would simply view it as another revenue stream or tell them they have to renew it every two years so they can continue to vote.

Unfortunately there's no way to frame this that makes it anything other than blatant voter suppression.

[Tapate50]

I’ve had to provide an ID to vote (twice per election) every time since I was 18. Is that unconstitutional or something ? Have my rights been infringed ?

Until now I though that was common protocol.

[thethe]

I’ve had to provide an ID to vote (twice per election) every time since I was 18. Is that unconstitutional or something ? Have my rights been infringed ?

Until now I though that was common protocol.

How dare you identify yourself before voting.

White supremacist!

[Carp]

Yeah it seems both sides are being a little ridiculous on the issue. State or federal issued ID requirement is perfectly acceptable protocol for this. I mean in my state it's against the law for businesses to sell alcohol or cigarettes to someone without ID. So I really don't understand the issue in requiring ID.

But like most bills, there is plenty of overreach from the party propping up the bill. And some absolutely ridiculous stuff, like not offering water to people waiting in line.

[Tapate50]

Yeah it seems both sides are being a little ridiculous on the issue. State or federal issued ID requirement is perfectly acceptable protocol for this. I mean in my state it's against the law for businesses to sell alcohol or cigarettes to someone without ID. So I really don't understand the issue in requiring ID.

But like most bills, there is plenty of overreach from the party propping up the bill. And some absolutely ridiculous stuff, like not offering water to people waiting in line.

It does seem like this bill has been spun as outrageously unfair.

It doesn't implement a whole lot that wasn't there at first.

The water and food stipulation was to prevent further influence while in line. After all you can't campaign within so many feet of a polling location what would stop them from using it and offering more? It was a simple fix.

Its being billed on the radio and media as putting your identity at risk for theft, higher taxes, and Jim Crow legislation.

It doesn't come across that way if you actually read the legislation. It isn't nearly whats been billed out to the media.

[Carp]

It does seem like this bill has been spun as outrageously unfair.

It doesn't implement a whole lot that wasn't there at first.

The water and food stipulation was to prevent further influence while in line. After all you can't campaign within so many feet of a polling location what would stop them from using it and offering more? It was a simple fix.

Its being billed on the radio and media as putting your identity at risk for theft, higher taxes, and Jim Crow legislation.

It doesn't come across that way if you actually read the legislation. It isn't nearly whats been billed out to the media.

And that doesn't seem ridiculous to you? Are we really worried that passing out water is gonna lead to voter fraud or is going to heavily influence even a local election?

If we're going to give the people the benefit of the doubt that absentee forms mailed out to elderly and handicapped are actually being filled out by them and not their caregivers, I think we can give people the same benefit of the doubt that they can pass out water without asking people to vote for a particular candidate.

It's petty stuff like this that give opponents even more ammunition against the bill.

[thethe]

The same absentee forms that are being REQUESTED by the elderly with voter identification?