New Georgia voting laws may impact All-Stars
LA manager, union head pondering actions in protest
LOS ANGELES — If Major League Baseball opts not to move this year’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday he would consider declining the honor of managing the National League team.
“If it gets to that point,” Roberts said, “it’ll certainly be a decision I’ll have to make personally.”
Roberts spoke on the day after Georgia adopted a new law that makes it harder to vote, with the Black community expected to be disproportionately affected. President Biden criticized the law as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century,” and Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark said the union “would look forward” to discussing with the league whether to relocate the All-Star Game.
Roberts, who is Black and Asian American, is one of two Black managers in MLB, along with Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros. Roberts also is one of two Black managers to win a World Series, along with Cito Gaston of the Toronto Blue Jays.
His platform provides him with the opportunity to speak out and be heard on high-profile social issues, such as the recent wave of hate crimes against Asian-Americans. Roberts said he would have to learn more about the Georgia situation but said he was concerned by what he has heard.
“When you’re trying to restrict African-American votes — American citizens — that’s alarming to me to hear,” Roberts said.
The Georgia law limits where voters can drop off ballots, requires additional layers of identification for absentee voters, narrows who can use a provisional ballot and authorizes the state Legislature to override local election officials. The law also makes it a crime to provide food or water to voters waiting in line to cast a ballot.
Clark told the Boston Globe “players are very much aware” of the new Georgia voting restrictions. Clark said the union would welcome the chance to engage with the commissioner’s office about the possibility of moving the game.
“As it relates to the All-Star Game,” Clark said, “we have not had a conversation with the league on that issue. If there is an opportunity to, we would look forward to having that conversation.”
The NBA moved its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte after North Carolina adopted a “bathroom bill” that limited anti-discrimination protections. The NFL moved the 1993 Super Bowl out of Arizona after voters there rejected a proposal to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a state holiday.