Baseball is America’s favorite pastime: a sport that bridges political divides and unifies the nation in its darkest hour.
When the United States entered World War I in 1918, citizens were forced to gather around the war effort, contributing their whole livelihoods to the cause. While the uncertainty of the war loomed overhead, a crowd of 19,274 gathered for the Fall Classic baseball game at Comiskey Park. As the Star-Spangled Banner played during the seventh-inning stretch, a new sense of patriotism grew on the hearts of everyone in the crowd, which the New York Times described saying, “an ‘afternoon yawn’ at the old ballgame had turned into a rally for citizens of a warring nation.”
Following the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt stated in his now famous “green light letter” to the first Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”
After terrorists struck the Twin Towers on September 11th, President George W. Bush, while wearing a bulletproof vest, inspired a hurting nation by throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. A strike down the middle demonstrated the resiliency and strength of the American spirit.
Last week the MLB front office took the unprecedented move to relocate the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, Georgia, in protest of the state’s recently passed election reforms. This decision came on the heels of President Joe Biden encouraging the MLB to strip the game from the state of Georgia while pushing a false narrative on the bill’s provisions and going so far to call it "Jim Crow in the 21st century." The Washington Post gave his false claims on what is in the bill four Pinocchios.
Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in his press release, “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.” How does requiring an ID to participate in our democratic process, while the MLB requires an ID when picking up baseball game tickets, not align with the MLB’s values?
This issue is not political for me; it is deeply personal. Baseball played a defining role in my life and blessed me with extraordinary opportunities. From my time playing as a collegiate ballplayer to being drafted by the Atlanta Braves to coaching at Texas Christian University, the sport taught me life lessons that I’ve carried with me for decades. Far beyond my views as a congressman or a fan, the league’s actions promulgate a concerning trend of corporations acting like political activists.
This decision also punishes Georgia’s economy and small business community, which like so many other states, is welcoming any opportunity to get back business following the COVID-19 lockdowns. The city prepared for months to host baseball’s star-studded weekend and now faces an unforeseen $100 million economic loss.
Perhaps the most disappointing impact from the front office’s decision is the planned celebration of Hank Aaron’s life and career as an Atlanta Brave. I had the tremendous honor to know Hank, both on a personal level and as a ballplayer. His story is the American dream, a young man who faced life’s challenges head-on and persevered in the midst of extraordinary prejudice. MLB could have taken this opportunity to promote lessons we could all learn from Hank’s story, to rally people behind an extraordinary man and athlete in hopes that we might all be catalysts for positive change.
MLB chose to divide rather than unite Americans as we endure a dark period sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. As people experienced great loss, loneliness, and trials in the last year, let history show that the sound of a cheering crowd after a home run or the sight of a baseball field can be a way to give a newfound hope to the American people. MLB has a role to bring people together in this new hope. Instead, it chooses to exploit our sacred game and bow down to the progressive wing of our political system.
Roger Williams represents Texas's 25th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
