All around Atlanta on Friday there were many businesses who wanted to avoid stepping into the debate on the new voting law and Major League Baseball stripping the city of the July 13 All-Star Game. Even sports talk radio found the ground slippery.

But the nighttime crowd at The Battery, which is the mixed-use development around the Atlanta Braves stadium, Truist Park, let it fly after sundown with thoughts on Commissioner Rob Manfred’s announcement earlier in the afternoon. What was striking is this was a younger, more diverse crowd than what would attend a Braves game, whose fans tend to be older, whiter. Still, there were baseball fans among the evening crowd and they had plenty to say about the controversial voting measures passed by the Georgia legislature on March 25.

Of nine people interviewed, only one said Commissioner Rob Manfred made the wrong decision. It was not scientific polling, but it was telling. Baseball is finding some traction with a younger audience, especially when clubs devote millions to eclectic, more hip, and affordable shops and eateries around their stadium and make it an attraction.

“I was kind of surprised,” said Keyan Shod, “because Baseball is usually the last to do anything (around a controversy). And I agreed with the decision.”

A man walking his dog and wearing the cap of another National League team, also seemed genuinely surprised by Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision earlier in the afternoon.

“Baseball came under pressure,” he said, unwilling to give his name, “and did the right thing.”

Jacob Robinson of Smyrna, which is close to the stadium, is a Braves season-ticket holder. He had already paid $400 for his All-Star Game package, which included a ticket to the game and the Home Run Derby. His money will be refunded, but he was not unhappy with MLB’s decision.

“The voting law is ridiculous,” Robinson said. “It sucks there is no game, but MLB made the right decision. I mean, there was no voter fraud, yet they put in a law they said would stop voter fraud. How can both things be true?”

Brock Krause was walking through The Battery when he stopped to look around at all the shops and restaurants doing decent business, despite the cold. He was in town from Minnesota and he shook his head with dismay.

“Look at this place, what a gold mine for an event like the All-Star Game, it is set up for a game like that,” Krause said, “and now you are punishing people for politics that shouldn’t be in the game to begin with.

“This is not groundbreaking, this is not a Jackie Robinson-like moment. This is state politics. What Baseball did today was over the top. If they wanted to make a point they should have come together to talk about it.”

Race is hard to talk about, though, even for people who make a living talking.

Sports talk radio in Atlanta on Friday afternoon was strangely muted on the All-Star Game controversy 40 minutes after Manfred’s statement was issued. The stations were wary—with good cause—that inviting callers to talk about Manfred’s decision would devolve into on air political rancor and name-calling, so there seemed to be a decision to stay away from the controversy. Instead of teeing up callers one after another, another station had 10 minutes of babble on backyard grilling centered on advertisers, less than an hour after Manfred’s bombshell.

The new election law and assertions by civil rights groups that it will disenfranchise Black voters is sensitive material, needless to say. The stations have many Black listeners for the Hawks and Falcons and many white listeners for the Braves. Which landmine do you want to step on?

The shop Baseballisms does business in The Battery selling merchandise with various baseballesque quips (6+4+3=2). But CFO Jon Loomis said the company did not want to comment on MLB vs. the state voting law. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found the same reluctance from businesses when it tried to talk about the voting rights issue and the new law.

Here are some other reactions around Atlanta to MLB’s decision.

The country is deeply divided and so is the fandom in Atlanta. If you don’t believe it, just stroll through the late afternoon crowd at the Braves’ home opener next week when the crowd is older, whiter. There will be a stark difference of opinion about the value of Manfred’s decision than what was on hand Friday night. Georgia is indeed a battleground.