On Friday, Major League Baseball announced they will move the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 MLB draft out of Atlanta in response to Georgia’s Election Integrity bill.
“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with the clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.”
Corporations are now rushing to cave to the woke Left, with Major League Baseball joining the ever-growing list of organizations who decided that folding was easier than making a stand.
There was a time when sporting events were a wonderful way to get away from it all. It gave us a short reprieve from days filled with doom and gloom headlines and nasty political disagreements with neighbors.
Those days are long gone. Sports, athletes and politics are now tied together at the hip. From athletes kneeling during the national anthem to Black Lives Matter commercials at every turn, political statements during sporting events have become our “new normal.”
While we may find this kind of messaging annoying, even downright offensive, we can still enjoy the actual events. After all, we are capable of blocking out the social justice messaging on the back of jerseys and watching our favorite teams compete, safe in the feeling that they couldn’t possibly take it any further. But, as always, the Left continues to find new ways to ruin everything it touches.
Georgia’s election integrity bill has given the Left another opportunity to tighten its long tentacles around the world of sports.
As usual, the Left sees the bill as another opportunity to divide us by focusing entirely on the issue of race. Is the bill intended for a particular group of people? Of course not. It affects every single voter in the state of Georgia regardless of race, class or ideology. But Democrats want you to believe this bill specifically targets the black community.
President Biden has gone as far as describing the bill as “Jim Crow on steroids.” Stacey Abrams, the self proclaimed Governor of Georgia, and The New Georgia Project (a group Abrams helped found), even filed a lawsuit against state election officials in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
The new law is intended to fix the voting process in a state that was mired in controversy during the 2020 Presidential race. It’s meant to make elections safer and more transparent. The bill requires absentee voters to provide identification when requesting and returning a ballot. According to a new Rasmussen survey, it’s even a requirement that is supported by just under 70% of black voters. It also makes it illegal for anyone other than poll workers to provide water or food to voters waiting in line. While Democrats have pounced on this specific issue, its inclusion is only to dissuade groups on both sides of the aisle from influencing voters with gifts.
Democrats vocally condemn this common-sense bill as a form of voter suppression. It’s a term the Left throws around with ease. And what better way to get the message out than through Americans shared love of sports?
Pressuring individual states by threatening to move major sporting events is a tactic the progressive Left has used in the past with great success. For example, in 2017, the NBA moved its All-Star game out of Charlotte after North Carolina passed the “bathroom bill”, which prevented transgender individuals from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
And now, they’re at it again.
It’s almost as if Major League Baseball hasn’t read the bill. They were told it’s racist, and that’s all they needed to hear. Almost immediately, Major League Baseball decided they would rather bend to the demands of the woke mob than form their own educated opinion. Once again, another major corporation has refused to put up a fight.
Not surprisingly, MLB’s decision was applauded by Democrats, including former President Barack Obama.
Congratulations to @MLB for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens. There’s no better way for America’s pastime to honor the great Hank Aaron, who always led by example.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 3, 2021
And the Left isn’t done. They have their eyes on the most prestigious golf major, the Masters. The National Black Justice Coalition is calling on the PGA Tour to move the upcoming Masters Tournament from its home in Augusta, GA.
“The PGA Tour and Masters Tournament have both made commitments to help diversify golf and address racial inequities in this country,” NBJC executive director David J. Johns told Golfweek. “And we expect them to not only speak out against Georgia’s new racist voter suppression law, but to also take action”.
The idea of moving The Masters from the hallowed grounds at Augusta National is absurd. The golf course is arguably the most recognizable sports venue American sports has to offer. The tournament has been played during the first full week of April since 1940. Amen corner, Magnolia Lane and the famed azalea have provided the perfect backdrop for generations of golf fans. The Masters played at a course other than Augusta National? It’s comical. There is no Masters without Augusta, GA.
For now, The Masters will go on as planned. ESPN, a company that never misses an opportunity to pander to the Left, won’t be letting a little thing like “voter suppression” impact their bottom line.
“The event is happening and we are televising it. If events warrant we will cover them within our sports news coverage,” ESPN spokesperson Andy Hall told Fox News.
We can ignore the Left’s messaging for a little while to enjoy a few hours of the sports we love. But what happens when the games themselves are taken away because of politics? It’s an issue we never thought we’d have to grapple with.
But, like everything the Left touches, nothing is sacred. Nothing is left unscathed.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.