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Thomas Pyle
This season, the Atlanta Braves pulled off a number of phenomenal feats, they won the NL East despite losing their best player, they upset the Brewers and Dodgers to earn a trip to the World Series, but perhaps most importantly they are now hosting three World Series games at Truist Park in Atlanta. All the way back before the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB selected Atlanta to host the 2021 All-Star game in order to show off their new stadium, Truist Park (then SunTrust Park). Despite the cancellation of the 2020 All Star Game in Los Angeles, commissioner Manfred stuck with the choice to play the All Star Game in Atlanta. However, he wouldn’t stick with Atlanta for long. In response to the rumors of voter fraud in the 2020 election and the need for election reform, Georgia passed a series of voting laws. These laws were extremely controversial on social media and in the mainstream media despite numerous states having similar provisions in their own elections. As a result, the city of Atlanta was ‘cancelled’. Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB owners quickly sought to move the All Star Game out of Atlanta to a less controversial venue. Despite the death of longtime Atlanta Brave and former career home run leader Hank Aaron, MLB stole the All Star Game from the city. Baseball fans and Braves fans were enraged. The mayor of Atlanta was enraged. Even Stacey Abrams tried to convince MLB to keep the All Star Game in Atlanta. But, the owners chose to move the game to Colorado. Notably, Colorado has a number of similar voting provisions in their own election regulations. One of the main differences between Denver and Atlanta election results lies in their demographics. According to the most recent census, Denver’s population is over 75% white while African Americans represent over 50% of Atlanta’s population. The question must be asked: what made Denver a better host city than Atlanta in the eyes of MLB owners? The MLB All Star Game in Denver had 8.3 million viewers, a small increase from the 2019 game and against the trend of increased viewership in major MLB games including the 2020 World Series and the Field of Dreams game. The Braves wouldn’t forget what the owners and commissioner did to them. Despite a rough first half and the season ending injury of one of the best players in the game, Ronald Acuña Jr, the Braves fought their way to a World Series berth. Led by veterans Freddie Freeman, Jon Pederson, Charlie Morton, and the incredible NLCS performance by Eddie Rosario, the Braves were back in the World Series for the first time since 1999. Through the first two games of the World Series, ratings are already on the rise. Game two had over ten million viewers for the Astros victory as they tied the series at one game a piece. Atlanta is now expected to receive even more national attention than the All Star Game would provide, a fact that would not be lost on players, teams, and especially the owners. Atlanta reigns triumphant over MLB yet again, now a World Series victory would only be icing on the cake. Atlanta’s victory over Commissioner Manfred and MLB could prove very important as MLB faces the daunting challenge of agreeing on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement this offseason. Perhaps owners have experienced a loss of faith in the wildly unpopular commissioner and will vote to remove him or perhaps the players, fans, and executives are tired of seeing their favorite sports teams play politics and just want the plain and simple version of America’s pastime. All these issues are likely to be addressed this offseason, but, nonetheless, Atlanta’s victory looms large in both the baseball and political worlds. Expect to see Atlanta and the state of Georgia as a central theme in baseball and political discussions over the next few months. |