Pulled from Atlanta’s Truist Park due to Georgia implementing a controversial voting law that many feel discriminates against Black voters, the MLB All-Star Game is headed to Coors Field in Denver.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, who announced he was removing the July 13 game from Atlanta last week, is expected to confirm the switch this week, possibly as early as today, according to The Associated Press.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans have lashed out at the league and Manfred since the decision to remove the game from the home of the Atlanta Braves was announced, and they will likely have more to say now that the game was moved to the home of the Rockies in a state with a Democratic governor in Jared Polis and a Democratic-controlled legislature.
In addition to opinions about MLB’s decision to pull the game from Georgia being split down party lines amongst politicians, fan sentiment about the move also appears to be based on political party affiliation.
In a Morning Consult poll conducted over the weekend, 39% of U.S. adults said they supported MLB’s decision to move the game out of Atlanta, while 28% opposed the move. When political party was entered into the equation, 65% of Democrats said they supported MLB’s decision, compared to just 14% of Republicans.
“Interestingly, while only 9% of Democrats opposed MLB’s decision to move its events out of Atlanta, 23% of Democrats expressed support for Georgia’s voting law,” according to Morning Consult. “In general, fewer respondents formed opinions about the All-Star Game and draft than the law, in part because the share of individuals who had seen, read or heard about MLB’s moves at the time of the survey was slightly smaller than the share that had heard about the Georgia law in general.”
The last time the All-Star Game was in Denver, the AL beat the NL 13-8 in a slugfest that featured 31 hits but only three for homers. Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Roberto Alomar all went deep in the Midsummer Classic, with the latter taking home the MVP.
In the ’98 Home Run Derby, Ken Griffey Jr. took advantage of the higher elevation at Coors Field and was able to beat Jim Thome.
Though Governor Kemp and Governor Abbott probably won’t be watching, expect the long bombs to come fast and frequently during this year’s edition of the All-Star Game at homer-friendly Coors Field.
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