“It was a tough situation. I feel like it was the right decision,” said 17-season MLB pitcher Edwin Jackson. “It’s a powerful impact baseball has shown it has on the community.”

Harold Reynolds, a two-time All-Star player now working as a television commentator, said MLB risked having players refuse to play had the game been staged in Atlanta in the wake of the restrictive voting law.

“Players were not going to play,” he said. “That’s part of taking a stand for social justice. And I’m not just talking about black players in The Players Alliance.”

The alliance was a group of active and former MLB players, mostly but not all Black, formed last year in the wake of rising social justice concerns.