MLB being sued for moving All-Star Game

Major League Baseball is being sued over its move of next month’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

A 21-page lawsuit by conservative small-business advocacy organization Job Creators Network, filed Monday in federal court in New York, demands the immediate return of the game to Atlanta and $100 million in damages to local and state small businesses. The suit also seeks $1 billion in punitive damages.

MLB, the MLB Players Association, commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA executive director Tony Clark are named as defendants in the suit.

MLB announced April 2 that it would move the AllStar Game, which was scheduled for Truist Park, out of Georgia in response to the state’s new voting law. The July 13 event was awarded to Denver the following week.

“MLB robbed the small businesses of Atlanta many of them minority-owned of $100 million, we want the game back where it belongs,” Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network, said in a statement. “This was a knee-jerk, hypocritical and illegal reaction to misinformation about Georgia’s new voting law which includes Voter-ID. Major League Baseball itself requests ID at will-call ticket windows at Yankee Stadium in New York, Busch Stadium in St. Louis and at ballparks all across the country.”

BLUE JAYS HOPING TO FLY NORTH >> Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro believes there’s a chance the team could finally return home to Toronto at some point this season, while cautioning the decision hinges on when Canada will loosen its strict border regulations.

Shapiro declined to get into specifics Tuesday by saying talks between the Blue Jays and Canadian health officials have become more frequent and “certainly more positive” in recent weeks.

In referring to an “underlying level of optimism” connected to more Canadians receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, Shapiro stressed the most significant challenge remains the border being closed to non-essential travel.

“Just focus on the border, recognizing anything around that is going to be a challenge — not impossible — but a challenge,” he said. “But the only clarity exists around the border being open.”

Shapiro spoke as the Blue Jays prepared to open a twogame series against the Miami Marlins in returning to playing “home” games at their Triple-A affiliate’s ballpark in Buffalo, New York. The Blue Jays made the shift north to escape the heat and humidity in Florida, after spending the first two months of the season playing out of their spring training site in Dunedin.

The Blue Jays have not played in Toronto since closing the 2019 season with an 8-3 win over Tampa Bay on Sept. 29. MARINERS OUTFIELDER LEWIS OUT WITH KNEE INJURY >> The Mariners placed outfielder Kyle Lewis, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, on the 10-day injured list with a torn meniscus in his right knee and it’s unclear if he’ll need surgery.

“IRON MIKE” PASSES AWAY >> Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award (1974) when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. He was 78.

The right-hander nicknamed “Iron Mike” pitched in the majors from 1967-1981 for nine teams, compiling a record of 97-112 and 3.14 ERA. He recorded 880 strikeouts and 188 saves.