MLB warns Giants over Bible verses on Pride Night hats

Major League Baseball warned the San Francisco Giants after players wrote Bible verses on team-issued Pride Night hats during Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park, putting the league’s uniform rules in direct conflict with a night built around LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney said, “The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.” The league response was a warning, not a fine, but it underscored that authorized uniforms are not supposed to carry personal writing or illustrations.

Right-hander Landen Roupp, 27, started the game and pitched 4 innings in the Giants’ 5-1 loss, with “Gen 9:12-16” written on the front of his hat. Relievers JT Brubaker, 32, and Ryan Walker, 30, also appeared with Bible verses on their Pride Night caps. Left-hander Sam Hentges, 29, wore the Giants’ regular black cap with orange lettering instead of the rainbow Pride version, avoiding the conflict that drew the most attention.

Roupp said after the loss that the inscription was not meant as hate, but as a statement of faith. He said he believed in God and was referencing God’s covenant in Genesis. First-year Giants manager Tony Vitello defended the players’ right to do what they think is best, while also saying the organization had worked to embrace the community and did not want to be divided.

The controversy landed at an especially sensitive moment for a franchise that has made Pride Night part of its public identity. The Giants promoted the event as a celebration of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community, with pregame festivities, in-game celebrations, postgame fireworks featuring LGBTQIA+ artists, and special-event ticket proceeds benefiting local LGBTQIA+ organizations. The club also says it became the first MLB team to incorporate Pride colors into an on-field uniform in 2021.

That history made the hat writing more than a locker-room choice. It became a test of how MLB balances uniform enforcement, individual conscience, and the league’s own inclusion messaging. The backlash from LGBTQ+ advocates, fans and commentators reflected that tension, as the Giants found themselves explaining how a night designed to signal welcome instead produced pain, anger and a new argument over where expression ends and league standards begin.