MLB Warns Giants Players Over Bible Verses Written on Pride Night Caps
Major League Baseball issued a warning to three San Francisco Giants pitchers after they wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps during last Friday's game against the Chicago Cubs, a move the league says violated its uniform rules. The warning has since drawn a formal response from a U.S. senator and statements from two state attorneys general threatening potential legal action.
What Happened on the Field
Landen Roupp started the June 12 game with "Gen 9:12-16" written on the front of his cap — partially overlapping the rainbow SF logo players wore for Pride Night — and pitched 4⅔ innings in the 5-1 loss. Relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker also wore Bible verses on their caps during the game.
A fourth pitcher, left-hander Sam Hentges, took a different approach entirely: he wore the team's standard black cap with the orange logo instead of the Pride Night version.
MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney addressed the situation directly. "The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations," Courtney said.
What the Players Said
Roupp was direct about his reasoning when reporters asked him about it afterward.
"There's no hate at all. It's just what I stand for, and what I stand on: I believe in God," he said. "It's just about God's covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy. That's just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that. And I'm thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want, and express what we want."
When asked how he'd respond to people who might be offended, Roupp said, "As a believer, I would push them to read the Bible. God has blessed me in so many ways, and I don't think I'd be here right now if it wasn't for him."
Hentges explained his decision carefully the next day. "It's just something that I feel like I was forced to support when I don't morally support it. There wasn't hatred behind it. I think that's kind of something that's misinterpreted," he said. "I don't hate the LGBTQ community. It's just something I believed and talked with teammates and family, and they supported it."
Giants manager Tony Vitello told reporters that nothing was discussed with the pitchers before the game.
How the Team Responded
The Giants organization, which first incorporated Pride elements into its uniforms in 2021, issued a statement the day after the game reaffirming its commitment to the event while acknowledging the impact of its players' decisions.
"We understand that the choices by individual players have caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that," the team said. "Those choices do not change our organization's commitment to inclusion, belonging, and creating a welcoming environment for all."
A Senator Weighs In
The MLB warning quickly drew a political response. On Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred demanding written answers, calling the league's action part of "a pattern of discrimination within MLB against baseball players who profess their Christian faith."
"The freedom to live out one's faith does not end at the ballpark gate," Hawley wrote. He asked Manfred to provide copies of uniform regulations, records of similar enforcement over the past five seasons, and any policies on whether players are required or expected to wear Pride Night attire. He set a response deadline of the end of June.
Hawley also pointed to a recent undercover investigation that revealed a Washington Nationals community relations executive had been fired after being caught on camera discussing an alleged social media ban targeting a Catholic pitcher — citing it as further evidence of a broader pattern.
Attorneys general from Florida and Missouri also issued statements warning the league of potential legal action. Florida AG James Uthmeier posted on X: "Do you practice religious discrimination in Florida, @MLB?"
A Wrinkle in the Enforcement
Legal observers and reporters have noted a potential inconsistency in how the league handled the situation. MLB's uniform rules state that "no player whose uniform does not conform to that of his teammates shall be permitted to participate in a game" — a rule that would appear to apply to Hentges, who wore a different cap than the rest of his teammates. Hentges was allowed to pitch in the game anyway. It is unclear whether he was also issued a warning, and MLB has not addressed the discrepancy publicly.
This Isn't the First Time
The tension between Pride Night participation and players' religious beliefs has surfaced repeatedly across professional sports in recent years.
In June 2025, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw wrote "Gen 9:12-16" — the same verse as Roupp — on his cap during Los Angeles's Pride Night game. Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen has been the lone player on that roster to decline wearing a Pride-colored hat entirely, also citing his Christian faith.
In 2022, five Tampa Bay Rays pitchers — Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs, and Ryan Thompson — opted out of wearing the team's rainbow-accented Pride Night uniforms, citing their Christian faith, drawing sharp criticism from LGBTQ advocacy voices at the time.
The NHL went through an even more public version of this conflict in 2023, when players across multiple teams — including the Staal brothers in Florida, goaltender James Reimer in San Jose, and defenseman Ivan Provorov in Philadelphia — declined to wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys, citing religious beliefs. Some Russian-born players also cited fear of legal consequences back home under Russia's anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws. The controversy grew large enough that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ultimately discontinued special Pride warmup jerseys altogether, calling the recurring opt-outs a distraction. Pride Nights continued in the NHL, just without the on-ice jerseys.
MLB has not signaled any plans to follow that path. The league's response so far has been narrower — focused specifically on the rule against personal writing on equipment, a rule that applies regardless of the message's content, rather than on the broader question of whether players can opt out of Pride Night attire altogether. Whether the growing political pressure changes that calculus remains to be seen.
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