"Most people already know the high profile numbers. The 2011 All-Star Game is currently scheduled to be played in Phoenix, an event that is said to be worth $150 million to Arizona's economy. It is certainly not too late to reschedule this game.
In addition, 15 of Baseball's 30 Major League teams conduct their spring training in Arizona's Cactus League. As of 2011, all 15 of those teams will be within 45 miles of each other in the Phoenix area, and all will be in Maricopa County, home of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Each of the Cactus League Teams plays roughly a 32 game schedule, half at their home complex. The Cactus League accounts for over $350 in spending into Arizona's economy. One team, the Chicago Cubs, as the linked article points out, attracts incredible numbers of tourists and is single-handedly responsible for 30 percent of that revenue.
But Major League Baseball is not about taking moral and political stands.
Here's why they it's in their economic interest to do so. (READ MORE)
–via Big Journalism
"The following scenario could actually happen. In America. In the 21st century …
It’s 2011 and the All-Star Game is just a few days away in Arizona. Albert Pujols decides to take a stroll in downtown Phoenix. A police officer drives by and doesn’t realize that Pujols is a baseball icon. To the officer, he looks potentially like an illegal alien. He is, after all, brown skinned..." (READ MORE)
