I've been waiting for individual players to speak out more about this law. We've heard from their Players Association, but now we hear from a player himself.
Adrian Gonzalez will NOT be playing in the All-Star game if Arizona keeps the law. (Edited and fixed)
"I'll support the Players Association 100%," says Gonzalez, who grew up in Tijuana and Chula Vista, a suburb south of San Diego. "If they leave it up to the players and the law is still there, I'll probably not play in the All-Star Game. Because it's a discriminating law.
"I know it can't be done, but they should take spring training out of (Arizona) if it's possible."
You can read the rest here.
According to this article, players of latino decent make up 27% of major league teams. That's incredible.
Arizona is also a baseball state. The players get what this is all about.
"Baseball is part of the culture of Arizona,'' Padres closer Heath Bell said in the San Diego Union-Tribune. " For Arizona to do something like? Mind-boggling.''
Mets catcher Rod Barajas , an Arizona resident and son of Mexican immigrants, talked to the NY Times about his opposition to the law.
"It’s disappointing," Barajas said. "I have a lot of family born in Mexico. You would like to hope there is no stereotyping going on, but it’s hard to see that there would not be. If they happen to pull someone over who looks like they are of Latin descent, even if they are a U.S. citizen, that is the first question that is going to be asked. But if a blond-haired, blue-eyed Canadian gets pulled over, do you think they are going to ask for their papers? No."
Bleacher report
And this from an interesting story on the potential impact of the law on young players. I recommend reading this. It points out that hundreds of young boys from all over Latin America arrive each year in the US to play basebal and are welcomed with open arms. But how will the world of baseball deal with kids, some as young as 14, being exposed to this law.
I’ve never seen anything like that in the United States, and Arizona is part of the United States," Kansas City Royals designated hitter Jose Guillen(notes) said. "I hope police aren’t going to stop every dark-skinned person. It’s kind of like, wow, what’s going on.
But not everyone is worried. I think some people are being a bit naive.
"I’m not worried," said Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez(notes), a Venezuela native. "I’ll just tell them I play baseball and it’ll be fine."