Major League Baseball will move its signature midseason event out of Atlanta because...How the hell could they spend a whole weekend talking about All-Star voting in a state that doesn’t allow people to vote?
MLB’s 2021 All-Star weekend was expected to bring tens of millions of dollars to Georgia’s booming wing industry, while probably boosting the take-home pay for gentlemen’s club employees in the Atlanta metro area. But those lemon pepper wet dreams are now dashed after the pro baseball league called foul on the state’s new whites-only voting law, according to ESPN.
“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. Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We will continue with our plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities. In addition, MLB’s planned investments to support local communities in Atlanta as part of our All-Star Legacy Projects will move forward. We are finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly.”
On March 26, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation passed by both state houses a Republican-led overhaul of state elections, rolling back voting by mail and other absentee balloting efforts and even banning the distribution of food and water to those standing in line to vote.
President Joe Biden called the bill “sick” and “un-American” and on March 31 told ESPN he would support MLB moving its Midsummer Classic out of Atlanta.
Just more than three months before its stars were to gather July 13 for the 91st All-Star Game, Manfred did just that.
While the Atlanta Braves franchise was perfectly fine with Black people not being able to drink water while they stood in line to see if white people were going to let them vote, the team said they were “deeply disappointed” by the MLB’s move, noting that “businesses, employees and fans in Georgia are the victims of this decision.”
If only there was some mechanism to allow these people to voice their concerns. Anyway, plantation overseer Brian Kemp, who also spends time suppressing voters as Georgia’s governor, was so upset, he damn near lost his will to shit on his Black residents.
Almost.
“Today, Major League Baseball caved to fear, political opportunism, and liberal lies,” said Kemp, while taking a break from contemplating his next act of racism. “Georgians—and all Americans—should fully understand what the MLB’s knee-jerk decision means: cancel culture and woke political activists are coming for every aspect of your life, sports included. If the left doesn’t agree with you, facts and the truth do not matter.
“This attack on our state is the direct result of repeated lies from Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams about a bill that expands access to the ballot box and ensures the integrity of our elections. I will not back down. Georgians will not be bullied. We will continue to stand up for secure, accessible, fair elections. Earlier today, I spoke with the leadership of the Atlanta Braves who informed me they do not support the MLB’s decision.”
Then, Kemp looked around, grabbed a baseball bat, smashed his life-size replica of Martin Luther King Jr. and asked his security team if there was a Black person around who they could arrest.
Thankfully, no one knocked on the door.