MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Calls Out Giants Over ‘Lapse in Communication’ After Players Wore Bible Verses on Pride Caps
· Yahoo Sports
Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty; Thearon W. Henderson/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote a letter to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, clarifying the reason Giants pitchers were issued a warning for writing Bible verses on their specialty caps for Pride Night
- “MLB has a policy negotiated with the Major League Baseball Players Association that states a ‘player may not write, attack, affix, embroider, or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel,'” he wrote
- Manfred also claimed that the team's communications with its players were “inadequate and not clear” ahead of the incident
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is calling out the San Francisco Giants for the team's “lapse in communication” surrounding its recent Pride Night controversy.
After starting Giants pitcher Landen Roupp joined relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker in writing Bible verses on their specialty Pride Night hats on Friday, June 12, Major League Baseball issued a warning to the players stating that similar behavior will not be tolerated in the future.
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One week later, Manfred, 67, shared a letter, written to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, clarifying that the athletes were chastised for violating a policy that prohibits players from writing on their apparel or equipment rather than discriminating against their religious beliefs.
Ryan Walker on Pride NightCredit: Andy Kuno/Getty
“MLB takes discrimination against its players or in any form related to the league very seriously,” Manfred wrote in the letter, which he shared to social media. “MLB has a policy negotiated with the Major League Baseball Players Association that states a ‘player may not write, attack, affix, embroider, or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment.' ”
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“This policy is enforced without regard to the substance of the messaging,” he continued. “The rationale for the policy is that the league does not desire for its players to become messengers for political or social issues while in uniform playing baseball games because many messages have the potential to offend some segment of our fanbase.”
Manfred went on to explain that while MLB has 12 league-wide events in which the players' uniforms are altered to commemorate a holiday, it was established in 2023 that the Giants could utilize the special emblems “provided that no player or uniformed staff would be required to wear them and the team would speak to the players to make sure they were comfortable with the apparel.”
During the team's Pride Night celebration, reliever Sam Hentges seemed to be the only player who avoided wearing the hat, which featured a rainbow version of the team's logo.
Landen Roupp on Pride NightCredit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty
“This year, unfortunately the Giants communications with the players was inadequate and not clear,” Manfred explained in the letter. “Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result.”
“The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with the biblical references for the entire game,” he added. “After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation — unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants' lapse in communication. The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.”
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