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Interview with Dave Zirin regarding Moving the 2011 All-Star Game on KPFK.org

Dave Zirin is the Sports and Social Justice columnist. He is an author of several books and the Sports Correspondent for the Nation Magazine. You can find more information on Dave at his website: http://edgeofsports.com

Click below to hear audio of Dave Zirin Interview in Letters to Washington interview on December 30, 2010, on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, CA. (kpfk.org)

Running Time: 19:20

Articles

Players, coaches speak out against law

NEW YORK (May 1, 2010) -- Given a chance to take part in the 2011 All-Star game at Arizona, Ozzie Guillen insists he won't go. "I wouldn't do it," the Chicago White Sox manager said Friday. "As a Latin American, it's natural that I have to support our own.”

Guillen joined a growing chorus of opposition to Arizona's new law that empowers police to determine a person's immigration status. The state is home to all four major team sports, hosts half the clubs in spring training and holds top events in NASCAR, golf and tennis.

The Major League Baseball players' union issued a statement condemning the law. A congressman whose district includes Yankee Stadium wrote a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig urging him to pull the All-Star game from Phoenix. The World Boxing Council took a step to limit fights in Arizona.

"It's a bad thing," said Baltimore shortstop Cesar Izturis, born in Venezuela. "Now they're going to go after everybody, not just the people behind the wall. Now they're going to come out on the street. What if you're walking on the street with your family and kids? They're going to go after you."

With more than one-quarter of big leaguers on opening-day rosters were born outside the 50 states, most of them from Hispanic descent.

"These international players are very much a part of our national pastime," MLB union head Michael Weiner said. "Each of them must be ready to prove, at any time, his identity and the legality of his being in Arizona to any state or local official with suspicion of his immigration status."

Weiner said that if the law is not repealed or modified, the union would consider "additional steps."

A day earlier, WBC president Jose Sulaiman said its sanctioning body unanimously agreed it will not authorize Mexican boxers to fight in Arizona.

"Great figures of boxing have fought in Arizona, boxers such as Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Konstantin Tszyu, 'Coloradito' Lopez and many, many others," said Sulaiman, who is based in Mexico City. "The WBC will not allow that in boxing, athletes are exposed to suffer that degrading act, humiliating and inhumane, as racial discrimination is."

MLB, the NFL and the NBA declined comment on the law.

The BCS national championship game will be played next January in Glendale, Ariz., shortly after the city hosts the Fiesta Bowl.

"The recent Arizona immigration legislation is obviously a matter of great public concern," the Fiesta Bowl said in a statement Friday. "While this matter may ultimately be resolved in a court of law or in the court of public opinion, we are certain that it will not be resolved on the fields of college football."

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., sent a letter Thursday night to Selig, asking him to take next year's All-Star game out of Arizona.

Calling the law "extremist" and "discriminatory," the congressman wrote: The All-Star game is now not just a display of baseball's best talent, but is also a display of the global reach of the game. It is at odds with the reality of the modern game to hold such a prestigious event in a state that would not welcome those same players if they did not play our national pastime."
Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick said "this whole situation is sad and disappointing."

"We believe the federal government should act swiftly to address the immigration issue once and for all," he said in a statement.

Said Cleveland Indians coach Sandy Alomar Jr., whose team trains in Goodyear, Ariz.: "Certainly I am against profiling any race and having sterotypes, but at the same time my feeling is what does baseball have to do with politics? Let the politicians stay in politics and the baseball players play baseball."

Guillen, from Venezuela, became an American citizen in 2006. He said players should consider boycotting baseball in Arizona, adding, "I plead sportsmen to join on this."

The White Sox hold spring training in suburban Phoenix. Guillen said he hoped MLB would take a strong stance on the immigration law.

"They have to. They have a team in Arizona," he said. "There is a concern for baseball players to go out there, of course, and we've got to support those people."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Source: ESPN.COM

MLBPA statement on Arizona's immigration law

Here is the statement issued by the Major League Baseball Players Association regarding its opposition to Arizona's controversial immigration law:

"The recent passage by Arizona of a new immigration law could have a negative impact on hundreds of Major League players who are citizens of countries other than the United States. These international players are very much a part of our national pastime and are important members of our Association. Their contributions to our sport have been invaluable, and their exploits have been witnessed, enjoyed and applauded by millions of Americans. All of them, as well as the Clubs for whom they play, have gone to great lengths to ensure full compliance with federal immigration law.

"The impact of the bill signed into law in Arizona last Friday is not limited to the players on one team. The international players on the Diamondbacks work and, with their families, reside in Arizona from April through September or October. In addition, during the season, hundreds of international players on opposing Major League teams travel to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks. And, the spring training homes of half of the 30 Major League teams are now in Arizona. All of these players, as well as their families, could be adversely affected, even though their presence in the United States is legal. Each of them must be ready to prove, at any time, his identity and the legality of his being in Arizona to any state or local official with suspicion of his immigration status. This law also may affect players who are U.S. citizens but are suspected by law enforcement of being of foreign descent.

"The Major League Baseball Players Association opposes this law as written. We hope that the law is repealed or modified promptly. If the current law goes into effect, the MLBPA will consider additional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of our members.

"My statement reflects the institutional position of the Union. It was arrived at after consultation with our members and after consideration of their various views on this controversial subject."

Source: NY Daily News

Miscellaneous Press Articles:

Pictures of Protests

Click on images below to enlarge.

Rockies Protest PictureWrigle Field Protest PictureCincinnati Reds Protest PictureSan Diego Padres ProtestMetsCiti Field Protest OutsideHouston Protest
Diamondbacks Phoenix Protest

Game Schedule

Below is the Arizona Diamondbacks 2010 schedule. You can also view the schedule on their website or download it as a printable PDF (85.7KB)

Arizona Diamondbacks 2010 Schedule

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MovetheGame.org

Tell Major League Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, to move the All-Star Game if Arizona does not rescind SB1070! Go the Move the Game website to sign their petition, read their blog, get talking points and find more resources on how to take action.

 
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