NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged in a written response to Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley that the San Francisco Giants dropped the ball when it came to informing players that wearing rainbow-themed caps during the team’s annual Pride Night celebration was entirely their choice.
During the event earlier this month, several Giants players — including starting pitcher Landen Roupp — chose to write Bible verses on the Pride-themed caps rather than simply wearing them as issued. That decision triggered a warning from the league, which noted that writing on caps runs afoul of official uniform policy.
Sen. Hawley had previously written to Manfred expressing what he described as “grave concern” over the league’s warning to those players. Hawley called the warning “dubious,” arguing that MLB was already taking a political stance by requiring Pride-themed uniforms in the first place.
Manfred’s reply to Hawley was shared publicly by the senator on social media Monday. In that letter, Manfred explained that back in 2023, the league moved to ban clubs from using special uniforms, caps, or equipment during themed celebration events — a policy shift driven in part by the discomfort some players had expressed about wearing such gear. Narrow exceptions were carved out for things like patches honoring members of the baseball community who had passed away.
That same year, both the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers — franchises located in cities with some of the country’s largest LGBTQ+ communities — were granted special exemptions allowing Pride symbols on caps and uniforms during Pride Night. The exemption came with conditions: no player or uniformed staff member could be required to wear the items, and the team was obligated to speak with players in advance to ensure everyone was comfortable.
According to Manfred, those conditions were not adequately met this year. “Unfortunately, this year the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear,” he wrote. “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.”
Manfred went on to clarify that the players were permitted to wear the caps with their biblical inscriptions throughout the entire game. The league’s warning came only after the game had ended — and before league officials were aware of the Giants’ failure to properly inform the players. “The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be,” Manfred wrote.
