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It was a message of hope, optimism and positivity.

It was a message about sports and the role they can play in society.

It was a message about unity in a time of division.

“I am extremely happy and excited about this year’s Mexican Baseball Fiesta,” said Rafael Barceló Durazo, who was about to wrap up his five-year tenure as the consul of Mexico in Tucson.

“For me, particularly, it’s important that in a moment in which so many people (are) sending negative comments about our wonderful and productive bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, all of you are doing totally the opposite. It is strengthening our ties in the thing that makes us human — enjoyment. We’re humans because we enjoy our experiences. That’s what sports are about. ...

“That competition makes us one.”

Beautiful words. Powerful words. Necessary words.

No such messaging was needed in the run-up to the 2024 Mexican Baseball Fiesta. As an official involved in that celebration of international baseball — and the procurement of the Tucson Baseball Team — noted: “Things are different this year.”

I know you didn’t come here to read about politics. I know many of you believe politics and sports can coexist in parallel orbits. But sometimes it’s unavoidable: Those worlds collide.

Such is our current reality. President Trump and his administration have sought out conflict with our neighbors to the north and south (among others). The administration’s immigration policies and enforcement tactics have created an undercurrent of worry as the 14th Mexican Baseball Fiesta and the inaugural season for the Tucson Baseball Team draw closer.

I’m reluctant to put this out into the universe, but it’s something else I can’t stop thinking about: What if ICE interferes with our fun and games?

What if a member of the Tucson Baseball Team — who came here to further his career and connect with a new fan base — gets arrested after accidentally leaving his paperwork at the team hotel?

What if the buses carrying one of Tucson’s opponents across the southern border get flagged for some dubious reason and ordered to turn around?

What if the prospect of being detained and deported causes a fan or a whole family of fans to stay as far away from Kino Stadium as possible?

Those are sobering scenarios. Heartbreaking hypotheticals. The last thing anyone who hopes professional baseball will succeed here — which should be all of us — wants to see or even consider.

Perhaps I’m being overly cynical. The Mexican Baseball Fiesta has provided a joyful experience for Southern Arizona fans for more than a decade. The Tucson Baseball Team promises more of the same.

Unfortunately, like a baserunner slamming into a catcher, politics and baseball already have collided.

Misguided enforcement

The Little League World Series begins Wednesday. Venezuela will represent Latin America. The kids from Cardenales Little League almost didn’t make it to Williamsport.

Venezuela is among the countries that face travel restrictions to the U.S. The Venezuelan Senior League team (ages 13-16) was to participate in the recently played Senior League World Series in Easley, South Carolina.

The Venezuelan Little League team had to obtain a “national exemption” that required the intervention and involvement of a U.S. senator and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, .

No sensible reason has been given for denying the Senior League team entry into the country. The Athletic cited a since-deleted Instagram post that referenced the “Immigration and Nationality Act,” specifically the restriction of “entry of foreign nationals to protect the United States from foreign terrorists and other national-security and public-safety threats.”

The only threat those 13- to 16-year-old Venezuelan baseball players posed was to the pitchers they would have faced in the World Series.

The current administration’s intent, , is to “execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens, particularly those aliens who threaten the safety or security of the American people.” In other words, the bad actors — not teenaged baseball players seeking to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the purported “land of opportunity.”

Whether it was a mistake, an oversight or collateral damage, I can’t imagine anyone — Democrat or Republican — thinks denying those players the chance to play was the right thing to do.

Emails sent to the State Department and Little League International seeking clarification on the Venezuelan Senior League team’s situation had not been returned as of Saturday morning.

At least one prominent Venezuelan MLB player, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras, has let his feelings be known about the travel ban.

“To be treated like we are criminals here, we’re not,” Contreras told The Athletic. “We’re here to provide for our family, to chase our dreams, to do the right things.”

Amen.

Tucson’s Field of Dreams

The Tucson officials who helped bring pro baseball back to town desperately want this to work. The owners of the Tucson Baseball Team (formerly Mayos de Navojoa) desperately want this to work.

Their hope is that the game-day experience will be a blend of two cultures — much like our city. They’re seeking to take the best of two brands of baseball — two distinct sets of traditions — and combine them into a uniquely appealing product.

Should “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” be sung in the middle of the seventh inning? In English? In Spanish? Both?

What should the menu look like? Typical American ballpark fare? Mexican specialties? Hot dogs or Sonoran dogs?

These are some of the topics at planning meetings for the first season of the Tucson Baseball Team, which later will hold a contest to determine its future name.

The team’s ownership is handling most of the more serious matters. Communicating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Working with immigration lawyers. Making sure all the details are ironed out so the operation runs smoothly.

Remember: The Tucson Baseball Team and its competitors in the Mexican Pacific Winter League will be crossing the border every week once the season begins in mid-October. This isn’t a one-off like the Mexican Baseball Fiesta — although that event, featuring multiple teams from the Mexican Winter League, is proof of concept that Tucson can host international baseball without international incidents.

“My team doesn’t worry me,” Victor Cuevas, owner of the Tucson Baseball Team, said in a phone interview Saturday. “We’ve taken care of it. What I cannot (control) is the other part.”

That’s the fan part. The unsettling undercurrent.

“Am I worried? Of course,” Cuevas continued. “That’s the hand we were dealt. We will overcome it.”

Sarah Horvath, who runs the Kino Sports Complex, was sitting next to Rafael Barceló Durazo when he delivered his remarks at the Mexican Baseball Fiesta news conference. His words struck a chord with her, too.

“It’s touching,” she said that day. “There’s been a lot of conversations behind the scenes about how important this is right now, in the world that we live in, to have something to unite us.

“We are a border community. Sonora is one of our biggest trading partners.

“All we’re doing is leaning into what Tucson is already strong with. Tucson is already strong with these trading relations, these border relations, all of that type of stuff. So this is us just cementing it more in the entertainment world.

“It’s exciting, and I think it’s needed right now.”

I don’t think Barceló Durazo was trying to invoke Terence Mann. But, thematically, his message had hints of the delivered by James Earl Jones.

Baseball is powerful. It’s timeless. It can bring us all together.

“It reminds us of all that once was good,” Mann says, “and it could be again.”