It’s that time of year again when people gather in ballparks across the nation to watch their favorite teams play ball, but more than just scoring a homerun will be on the minds of many players in Arizona this summer.
About 150 Latino rookies are taking part in the Arizona Rookie League this year.
The season will run through the end of the summer which means some of these players could potentially become victims of this anti-immigration law set to be enacted soon.
Several MLB clubs have taken various measures to prepare their players in case this should occur. The Cleveland Indians have gone as far as issuing ID cards to their players.
“We held a seminar under the direction of our cultural development director, Lino Diaz,” said Ross Atkins, the Indians’ player development director. “We brought in a local police officer to explain the situation and issued each player an ID card so they don’t have to rely on carrying around their visas and paperwork with them.”
Some teams have even kept their players from wandering off too far from their hotels to avoid any potentially unfortunate encounters.
“We keep players pretty close to the complex, going to the hotel and mall,” said Bobby Evans, vice president of baseball operations for the Giants. “Guys don’t have cars or a lot of means of getting out. It’s a little different now (with the new law).”
The state of Arizona will also play host to next year’s MLB all-star game. While there has been a call for Commissioner Bud Selig to change the venue in protest to the law no plans have been announced yet to do so.
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