MLB warns Giants players who wrote Bible verses on caps during ‘Pride Night’

Major League Baseball has told three San Francisco Giants pitchers that they violated the league's uniform policy by writing a biblical verse heading on their caps on Pride Night and issued a warning to each of them over the matter.

Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker all wrote “Gen 9:12-16” on their caps during Friday night's game, a verse that describes God's establishment of the rainbow and covenant with humanity. 

The passage refers to God establishing a rainbow in the clouds as the sign of his covenant to never again destroy the earth with a flood.

The game was part of MLB Pride Night festivities, hosted by individual league franchises, to celebrate and welcome the LGBTQIA+ community. The event is held annually during Pride Month in June.

"It's just about God's covenant and a promise that he makes to us," Roupp said. "I'm thankful we live in a country where we have the freedom to believe what we want and express what we want."

MLB said in a statement Monday that the writing "violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations."

The league later had to clarify that the warning was not disciplinary and was unrelated to the religious nature of the message. "

"To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message," MLB said. "We respect players' right to free expression."

The incident quickly drew attention on social media, with many criticizing the league's response.

"Trump won we don't have to do this anymore," Vice President JD Vance wrote on X.

Actor and comedian Rob Schneider said in a X post: “I will pay the fines for any MLB Christian player who wears a Bible verse on their uniform. MLB is ANTI-Christian."

The team issued their own statement following the game, reaffirming their commitment to Pride Night. Also, acknowledging and respecting players that make their own decisions regarding participation in team activities.

"The San Francisco Giants are proud to support Pride Night and the LGBTQ+ community. Baseball should be a place where everyone feels welcome, respected, and valued," the team said. "We also respect that individuals may make personal choices about participating in team activations."

The San Francisco Giants were the first team, back in 2021, to include a rainbow colorway on traditional caps for their annual Pride game.