ATLANTA — With all due respect to Pat McAfee, a sleeveless, exuberant, bro-friendly TV host probably wouldn’t be the first choice to field inquiries about thorny political matters of voting rights. But on Monday at MLB’s All-Star Media Day, while hosting an event that included starting pitchers Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes, McAfee faced a question that has lurked behind the scenes — far, far behind the scenes — of this year’s All-Star Game.
Why, since the game was removed from Atlanta in 2021 over Georgia’s then-new voting rights law, is it back in 2025, with the law still very much intact?
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It’s a question McAfee and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered with some deft redirection … and a question Major League Baseball is answering with silence.
“I don’t know if any of us are the experts or the ones who should be giving answers on that,” McAfee said in response to the inquiry. “I would assume that there was a reason or some conversation was had by MLB and the state that all parties thought this would be a wonderful host city for the All-Star Game, and I think everybody is all very excited to be back in the beautiful city of Atlanta.”
Four years ago, the beautiful city of Atlanta was preparing to welcome baseball for the 2021 All-Star Game. But in the wake of the 2020 election, in which Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold, flipped to the Democratic side, Georgia legislators passed S.B. 202, The Election Integrity Act of 2021, a thorough overhaul of the state’s voting laws and procedures. Provisions of the bill included a sharply increased focus on election security, among other elements.
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Critics assailed the law on the grounds that it infringed on voting rights and tilted heavily against minority voters. President Joe Biden called the bill that formed the basis of the law “Jim Crow in the 21st century,” and CEOs from Atlanta-based companies including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola condemned the bill.
Three months before the All-Star Game was scheduled to be played at Truist Park, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred pulled the game from Atlanta and awarded it instead to Denver. “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,” Manfred said at the time. “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp blasted MLB’s move as a “knee-jerk decision” and added in a statement that “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.”
The 2021 MLB All-Star game was originally scheduled to be played at Truist Park in Atlanta, but MLB moved the game to Coors Field in response to a controversial voting law in Georgia. (Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
(Rob Tringali via Getty Images)
MLB’s move drew both praise and criticism from inside and outside of Georgia. The decision also received the approval of at least one member of Monday’s panel: Dave Roberts, who said in 2021, “I think in a world now, where people want and need to be heard — and in this particular case, people of color — for Major League Baseball to listen and do something about it, to be proactive, it sets a tone.”
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But when given an opportunity Monday to offer a present-day opinion on the state of Georgia’s voter laws, Roberts instead focused on Atlanta as a host city.
“I do feel that I’m excited to be here. It’s a great city. Baseball fans are excited to be here and celebrate these great athletes,” he said. “I’m not a politician. I do feel that everyone has their right to voice thoughts, but right now I choose to focus on the players and the game.”
He’s not alone. All of baseball, consciously or unconsciously, has moved on from 2021 and the voting-bill controversy. Manfred has apparently not made a public statement on his decision to move the game since announcing at the 2023 owners’ meetings that the All-Star Game would return to Atlanta this year. When he made that announcement, Manfred simply sidestepped the voting issue, instead focusing on the Braves organization.
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“I made the decision in 2021 to move the event, and I understand, believe me, that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision,” he said. “What’s most important is that the Atlanta Braves are a great organization. Truist Park and The Battery are gems in terms of the facilities. With their great fan base and rich history, Atlanta deserves an All-Star Game, and we’re really looking forward to being there in 2025.”
At the time, Kemp, in a statement, did a bit of a victory celebration: “Georgia’s voting laws haven’t changed, but it’s good to see the MLB’s misguided understanding of them has,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming the All-Star Game to Georgia.”
And now it’s here, a four-day celebration of all things baseball, with political stances and statements nowhere to be seen. If you didn’t know the game had been moved out of town in 2021, you wouldn’t know it now. All of the 2021 grandstanding, from all parties on all sides of the matter, is now as much a relic of the past as COVID masks.
The focus is now on the game … and only the game.
