AS I SEE IT COLUMN: The real-world dark side of the Dodgers World Series victory

For decades, Latinos have comprised a major portion of the Los Angeles Dodgers fan base.

Imagine their glee when one of their own, the light-hitting second baseman Miguel Rojas, the unlikely hero hitting in the lowly number 9 spot of the batting order, hit a home run in the 9th inning to tie game 7 of the World Series when the Jays were only two outs away from baseball glory.

But many Latino fans are feeling betrayed by Dodgers owner Mark Walter. According to Black Press USA reporter Stacy Brown, Walter has a financial stake in companies that are carrying out Trump’s illegal, immoral and inhumane practice of masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents rounding up people, throwing them in unmarked vans and deporting them without a trial or access to a lawyer.

It is alleged that one of Walter’s companies makes money building detention centres for the ICE raids, while another company is alleged to be involved in the deportation flights where people are shipped off to foreign countries without ever being charged for anything or having a day in court to prove, you know, the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing.

If that wasn’t enough, another of Walter’s companies is alleged to have developed software that enables ICE agents to track the movements of immigrants in Los Angeles.

Around here we like the phrase “sports is the toy department in the hardware store of life.” Sometimes sports stories leap off the sports page and become actual “hard” news. The emotional way the Jays captured the hearts of Canadians in their improbable march to the World Series is one of those rare examples of something that is much, much more than “just” a sports story.

If the allegations of the Dodgers owner profiting off ICE’s tracking, capturing and deporting immigrants prove to be true (and as of press time Walters has not denied any of these reports, which is telling), this is another example of a story that is, by orders of staggering magnitude, way more than just a sports story.

The fan reaction in Los Angeles is real. An online petition requesting that Walter sever all ties with any companies doing business with ICE raids already has thousands of signatures.

The petition, titled “Mark Walter: Sell your company’s stake in ICE jails and deportation flights!” reads in part:

“With the World Series headed back to the City of Angels, we need to make sure the Dodger’s owner loves ALL Angelenos back. Forty percent of Dodger fans are Latino, the fans pay for seats, concessions, and gear to show our love for our city and our team. What we don’t want is Mr. Walter to have anything to do with masked agents kidnapping our families and neighbors off the street. Dodgers and ICE don’t mix.”

The World Series was an emotional roller coaster of fantastic plays, boneheaded plays, miraculous plays and clutch hits, with emotional highs and lows too numerous to count.

But that’s a game. This highly disturbing story is real life.

The idea of the Dodgers owner allegedly profiting to the tune of millions of dollars as masked ICE agents do Trump’s racist bidding, kidnapping people from their homes, from retail stores, day cares, birthday parties and sometimes from court where people are “checking in” to fulfill their duties for legally being in the country, is about as far removed from a baseball story as you can get.

Having an owner build a baseball dynasty is one thing.

Having an owner who reportedly profits from ICE raids that are ravaging Latino communities and destroying families throughout California is quite another.

One commenter in the petition wrote “This isn’t about politics, it’s about people. We love the Dodgers, but the team needs to love its city back.”

No wonder Latino Dodgers fans feel betrayed. They have every right to be.