Last week, during the San Fransico Giants' "Pride Night,” a couple of pitchers on the team chose to alter their caps, which showed the Giants logo in rainbow colors, reports Fox News. The starter for the night, Landon Roupp, wrote Genises 9:12-16 on his cap, a passage that talks about how the rainbow serves as God's promise. Relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker also wore Bible verses on their caps.
Meanwhile, left hander Sam Hentges opted to wear the team's standard black and orange cap instead of the Pride Night version.
The MLB stated that "the writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations." They later attempted to clarify that the verbal warning was standard protocol and had nothing to do with the content of the players' message.
When Ken Blackwell, former Cincinnati mayor and minority shareholder in the local baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds, appeared on “Washington Watch,” he said writing on caps is not without precedent, noting that players wrote "Cuba" or drew crosses on their caps, yet the league did not penalize them.
“Inconsistency is a problem here,” Blackwell says.
In baseball, courage is catching
The Giants players may have inspired minor league players in York, Pennsylvania, who refused to wear special jerseys with rainbow sleeves.
Executives for the York Revolution, which competes in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), appeared frustrated when announcing their decision to forfeit Thursday's game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Team management announced that while no game would be played, Pride Night activities would continue at WellSpan Park as a community event.
The Revolution will make a generous donation to an LGBTQIA+ organization.
Management implied it considered forcing players to wear the LGBTQIA+-themed jerseys, but said that would have taken away from the event.
"Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey, and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game," management said in a statement.
The team made it clear it did not back its players' freedom to choose. It was not stated that one or more players refused to wear the jerseys because of their Christian faith.
"To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York," the statement said.
The Revolution said it will donate $10,000 to the Rainbow Rose Center, describing the contribution as a gesture of regret over the last-minute change and as support for LGBTQIA+ community partners.
No longer the unifying sport
Blackwell told a story about when his uncle, DeHart Hubbard, helped found the American Negro Baseball League and how they looked at sports to unify the people, not tear them apart.
The MLB's handling of this shows the truth behind how political the game has become.
Blackwell did say, however, that MLB will start paying attention to their decisions on these matters once it starts taking money out of their pockets.
“Once they make a corporate decision that offends the purchasers of the tickets, the folks who buy major league baseball TV rights, that will get their attention,” Blackwell says.
Outkick reports that former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens spoke on the situation, saying they modified their uniforms all the time without being disciplined from the league. He suggested that MLB let the players customize their hats like they’re allowed to customize their cleats.
AFN reported previously on the MLB’s warning to the players and how Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) gave his own warning to the league.
