Rays fans descended on Tropicana stadium Friday to join the nationwide movement demanding Bud Selig move the 2011 All-Star game from Arizona. As Fox-13 reporter Kristin Wright points out in the clip above, there is a precedent for this kind of action. After the governor of Arizona rescinded Martin Luther King Day in 1993, Superbowl XXVII — originally scheduled for Tempe — was moved out of the state entirely.

Check out some of the other coverage from Friday’s actions as well:

Baseball and politics mixing it up in St. Pete — WDBO Local News, June 25

Everywhere the Arizona Diamondbacks play this year, the protestors follow and Jessica Sanchez will be outside Tropicana Field this evening, calling on Major League Baseball to move its all-star game from Arizona next year.

Protesters outside Trop urge MLB to move All-Star game because of Arizona immigration law — St. Petersburg Times, June 26, 2010

ST. PETERSBURG — [...] The protest was similar to others that have taken place around the country — including Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco — as part of a campaign by the website movethegame.org.

Over 200 people came out on to Fenway Park on Tuesday to demand MLB Commissioner Bud Selig move the 2011 All-Star Game from Arizona. The coalition of labor, faith, and immigrant rights groups are part of our nationwide movement to put pressure on Major League Baseball and call on its leadership to do the right thing.

From the Boston Globe:

Immigrant rights groups protested this evening outside Fenway Park as the Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team representing a state that stirred up controversy when it recently passed a strict new immigration law.

The Diamondbacks have been dogged at stadiums across the country this spring after the passage of the law.

The Major League Baseball Players Association criticized the law in April, saying they worried about foreign-born players being targeted when they visited for games or spring training. Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, who is on the executive committee, and third-baseman Adrian Beltre have spoken out against the law.

In addition, more than 100,000 people have signed an on-line petition urging baseball commissioner Bud Selig to move the 2011 All-Star game out of Phoenix.

PRESS ADVISORY
Contact: Brandon Hatler : (212) 691-2800 or hatler@sunshinesachs.com (English)
Natali Fani: (202) 787-1813 or natali@mateagroup.com (English/Spanish)

Labor, Faith, Community Groups Call on Major League
Baseball To Pull the 2011 All Star Game from Arizona

WHAT: Rally to protest Arizona’s anti-immigrant and racial profiling law, SB 1070 as well as to call on the MLB to move the 2011 All-Star game out of Arizona.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 15 – 6pm (Rain Date June 16th at 6PM)
WHERE: Fenway Park on Lansdowne Street (behind the Left Field Wall)
WHO: Members from Presente.org, New Sanctuary Movement (NSM), Student Immigrant Movement (SIM), LULACMetrowest, Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts (LUMA), Brazilian Women’s Group (BWG), Centro Presente, American Friends Service Committee Project Voice, Resist the Raids! Network, Dominican Development Center, Jobs with Justice, MataHari: Eye of the Day, ANSWER Coalition, The Party for Socialism and Liberation, SEIU Local 615, Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, The Boston Interpreters Collective, International Socialist Organization (ISO), Women’s Industrial League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), La Comunidad, Inc., City Life Vida Urbana, Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), The Smedley D Butler Bridge of Veterans for Peace, Chinese Progressive…

Hundreds gather at Dodger Stadium to protest Arizona immigration law — Los Angeles Times, May 31

A mushrooming group of protesters against Arizona’s immigration law grew to a few hundred at the entrance to Dodger Stadium on Monday evening as the L.A. team prepared to play the Diamondbacks.

Shouting “Boycott Arizona!” and carrying placards reading “Boycott Arizona Diamondbacks,” among other slogans, the protesters sought to gain the attention of fans driving into the stadium to watch a three-game series opener against the Arizona team.

500 rally at AT&T Park over Ariz. immigration law — Associated Press, May 29

SAN FRANCISCO—A crowd of about 500 people gathered outside the home of the San Francisco Giants on Saturday and used a baseball game between the Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks to protest Arizona’s tough new crackdown on illegal immigration.