In 18 years as the head of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig has been fed a steady stream of fastballs. There have been labor fastballs and steroid fastballs, pitches he has learned how to hit. Lately, he has been taking his hacks at human growth hormone fastballs. But just as he was getting a bead on that pitch, just as he was moving toward HGH testing in the minor leagues, fate has thrown Selig a nasty changeup. Now comes the Arizona immigration law, an issue that has so handcuffed Selig that he has been unable to react. And if this legacy-conscious commissioner is not careful, or perhaps if he is too careful, he will whiff on this issue without ever taking the bat off his shoulder. Last week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration. The law makes the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and directs police to question people about their immigration status and demand to see their documents if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. The outcry has been immediate, and baseball has been dragged into the fray. The sport, after all, has a substantial number of Hispanic players, has a major league team in Phoenix and has 15 teams, half the league, conduct spring training in Arizona. At least one New York congressman has urged baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game out of Phoenix. Other groups have called on people not to fly Tempe-based US Airways or rent trucks from Phoenix-based U-Haul or go to Arizona Diamondbacks games. The American Immigration Lawyers Association canceled a fall conference to be held at a Scottsdale, Ariz., resort. The nation's oldest black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, announced on Friday that it would move its July convention from Phoenix to Las Vegas. Baseball's players union has also weighed in, saying it opposed the new law and expressing concern about the way in which foreign-born players and their families would be affected. Major League Baseball and Selig have remained silent, presumably in hopes that the issue will go away. Except, that it isn't going away, at least not any time soon. Selig needs to recognize this, to acknowledge that people are looking to Major League Baseball to make a statement. The question, of course, is what he should say. What message should he send to the various constituencies nipping and tugging at baseball to get involved, to the many Hispanic players in the sport who may feel threatened by the new law and to the numerous fans who no doubt are uneasy, and angry, about illegal immigration. Maybe the answer is that Selig should address fans the way a Little League coach talks to a wayward team that has forgotten -- as Arizona apparently has -- about teamwork. In baseball, the essence of teamwork is sacrifice. That is, after all, why we have the sacrifice fly and the sacrifice bunt. It is what still makes baseball the great American game. And consider the scene at any given home game at Chase Field in Phoenix, with Diamondbacks fans sitting side by side. Presumably, some heartily agree with their state's new immigration legislation, while others disagree. But if a Diamondbacks player born outside the United States hits a home run, everyone stands and cheers; if the moment is large enough, they hug. That is the power and glory of sports -- and also part of the hypocrisy. Some of the same fans who root for their team's foreign-born players are the same who clamor for a tough approach on immigration. They are one reason Major League Baseball has received hundreds of phone calls urging it not to get involved in the debate over the Arizona law, and not to threaten any boycott as other groups have. So Selig should keep his message simple. Basic. The truth is that Major League Baseball makes a strong statement about inclusion 162 times a season. Selig could note that baseball takes everybody -- the tired, the poor, the masses yearning to make a good living at a sport they love. If you can play, baseball takes you. The first question from a politician is often not 'What's right' but rather. 'Are the politics right?' The first thing a major league manager asks is: 'Can he play? Selig can remind his fans, those who support the Arizona legislation and those who oppose it, that close to 30 percent of major league players were born elsewhere. That these international players help provide the strength of the game. That it is unthinkable that they should feel in any way unwelcome. This is the message Selig should convey. With his legacy on the line, it's the swing he eventually has to take. He can't stand there forever with the bat on his shoulder. 