During the 2025 MLB All-Star celebrations, Atlanta was buzzing with excitement until a press conference shifted the mood. It was supposed to be a routine conference about rosters, strategy, and player highlights. But one journalist’s question stood out, leaving Dave Roberts and Pat McAfee blank for a moment.
The room was filled with reporters. Paul Skenes was on stage next to Dave Roberts, while Aaron Boone and Tarik Skubal were on the other side, and Pat McAfee was the MC for the event. Then came a direct question regarding what happened in Atlanta in 2021.
The journalist began: “The All-Star Game was moved out of Atlanta in ’21 because of a law that former President Biden described as ‘Jim Crow in the 21st century,’ and it was framed as a protest. Dave, in the 2021 MLB Network special on Stop Asian Hate, you said, ‘I think it’s just being relentless with our voices. This is not something that’s just an isolated moment in time that we’re talking about. It’s something that needs to be talked about an ongoing basis and be relentless with it.’ What happened to being relentless with it? And why are we still in Atlanta when this is on book?”
Pat McAfee, who was also at the press conference, jumped in before Roberts could say anything. McAfee said, “I don’t know if any of us are the experts or the ones that should be giving answers on that. But respect and appreciate the way you feel about it, and I would assume that there was a reason or some conversation that was had by the MLB and the state that all parties thought that 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.”
Pat McAfee, Dave Roberts went full company men when faced with a tough question about why the MLB All-Star Game was back in Atlanta despite no change to Georgia’s disenfranchising voting laws. pic.twitter.com/wg0qFRfNWH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 14, 2025
McAfee then looked at Roberts and said, “I think she was talking to you. I don’t know if you have… I think so. But do you have any thoughts on Atlanta hosting the All-Star Game?”
Roberts, keeping his calm, added, “Think Pat answered it perfectly. And honestly, I appreciate the question. I appreciate your thoughts. I do feel that I’m excited to be here. I think that it’s a great city. I think baseball fans are excited to be here and celebrate these great athletes. I’m not a politician. I do feel that everyone has their right to voice thoughts. But right now, I really choose to just focus on the players and the game and be excited to be here. And for me, to be able to manage these guys… I’m honored. So I don’t want to get into the politics. But thank you.”
So what went down in Atlanta in 2021? Governor Brian Kemp signed Georgia’s Senate Bill 202 into law, which made big changes to how elections would take place in the state. The new measures included stricter identification requirements for absentee ballots, a reduction in locations for ballot drop-off, shorter early voting periods, and a law prohibiting providing food or water to individuals waiting in line to vote, except for a self-serve water station.
The law, reportedly, affected voters in certain neighborhoods where long lines and few polling places have always been a problem. And it led to a protest.
Major League Baseball also responded, and it was very much unexpected. Commissioner Rob Manfred decided the league would move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver to show sympathy for the affected communities and its commitment to civil rights.
And, back then, Dave Roberts was one of those who publicly backed Manfred’s decision, stating, “I’m not completely versed on everything, but… my takeaway from the bill was essentially [that its effect is] to suppress voting for … people of color, and with that, that’s something that I fundamentally and intrinsically disagree with. So for the Commissioner to kind of do his due diligence in baseball, outside of baseball, players, front office, and ultimately make a decision to remove the All-Star Game and the Draft out of the state of Georgia, I support.”
In 2023, Manfred talked about it again, but from a different point of view. “I’ve said it before, we wanted to bring an All-Star Game back to Atlanta,” he said during the owners’ meetings in Arlington, Texas, before further adding, “I made a 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.”
But what about Roberts? Does he have a different point of view now? Well, it doesn’t quite seem so, but his answer to the reporter’s question mirrors his careful response to Trump’s immigration policy.
Dave Roberts adopts a cautious tone
Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has stayed out of politically heated situations in the recent times. He talked about the “unsettling” mood in Los Angeles during a press conference before a game at Dodger Stadium on June 13, but chose to speak carefully.
Jul 3, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) reacts in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
After a week of immigration raids by ICE, Roberts said, “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and, you know, deport people and just kind of all the unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone,” before further adding, “I don’t know enough, to be quite honest with you… I haven’t done enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
His comments stood out because the Dodgers had been quiet about it till then, even though the city had rallies, curfews, and National Guard deployments in reaction. Roberts’s measured tone showed how complicated the situation was and how important it was to speak carefully about it in public. By dodging the question in Atlanta now, Roberts has chosen to stay out of the controversy again. And understandably so!
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