June 12 was the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night, and as part of the celebration, the team was given custom hats for the game. The SF on their black hat was rainbow colored, and a handful of players felt that there wasn’t enough decoration. Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker used Sharpie to add bible verses to the cap next to the team’s rainbow logo.
Roupp started the game and had “Gen 9:12-16” written on his cap. The verses referenced are about God sending a rainbow after the flood to remind Noah of God’s bond with mankind and that he would never again destroy the earth. It may seem fitting that the verses would reference a rainbow and the logo was rainbow colors, but there are a number of layers to the story and the aftermath of the player’s art project.
Giants Pride Night Hat Writing Leads To MLB Warnings
The first part of the controversy relates to the celebration and the logo. San Francisco is considered the hub of the LGBTQ movement and their fight for equality. It’s only natural that all teams in the city would recognize this movement at some point during their season as a show of support to the people in the community. Unfortunately, not every player on every team in the Bay Area feels the same ties to the community, nor do they want to share in the celebration.
Since the bible is used in a number of arguments against the LGBTQ, writing biblical references on a hat with a rainbow logo, on a night specifically celebrating diversity, could be viewed as a protest over the hat and the night in general. This may or may not have been the motive behind the drawings. The players involved have said they were paying respect to their faith, and “diversity and inclusion” means accepting people of all faiths and their beliefs.
The timing and frequency of their actions suggest that celebrating their faith was not the true motive behind the bible verses. For starters, this was the first time in history that any one of the players had ever chosen to celebrate in this fashion. If they were truly proud of their faith and looking to celebrate it openly, wouldn’t they write the verses on every one of their hats, and not just this one? That brings up the timing. The first time any of them chose to do it was on a night celebrating the LGBTQ, which means it was not a celebration of their faith, but a protest against the evening.
Major League Baseball did not find the hijinx amusing and issued warnings to each of the players that punishment would be handed down if they ever tried something like this again. The Department of Justice felt this warning was unwarranted and chose to launch its own civil rights investigation into the matter. The problem with their investigation is that the warning had nothing to do with religion or pride. The MLB has a rule that players may not inscribe anything at all on their uniform, no matter what.
The losers involved are and will be the players involved and the DOJ. As a business entity, the MLB has the right to establish and enforce uniform policies. They have done nothing wrong. The only wrongdoers are Roupp, Brubaker, and Walker. They violated a league-wide policy and picked the worst possible time and worst possible way to break that rule. Choosing to promote their faith on a night celebrating people that their faith hates is bone-headed at best, and choosing to hide behind the Constitution in the aftermath is an act of cowardice.
A fitting retaliation would be players choosing to wear rainbow colors on a night celebrating Christianity or religion in general, but that would never happen. If there is one thing that supporters of DEI do better than Christians, it is following the teachings of Christ. They will turn the other cheek.
