MLB warns players about altering uniforms after Giants pitchers add Bible verses on Pride Night
Major League Baseball has warned players about writing on their uniforms after San Francisco starter Landen Roupp and two other pitchers added Bible verses to their Pride Night caps on Friday night
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Major League Baseball has warned players about writing on their uniforms after San Francisco starter Landen Roupp and two other pitchers added Bible verses to their Pride Night caps last week.
Roupp started the 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday night with “Gen 9:12-16” written on his cap. A portion of the Bible verse overlapped the rainbow SF logo players wore for the Pride Night. San Francisco relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker also added Bible verses to their caps.
Another Giants pitcher, left-hander Sam Hentges, wore the team's standard black cap with the orange logo instead of the Pride Night version.
MLB issued a warning about future violations of the league's uniform policy.
“The writing on the cap violates our rules and consistent with normal practice we have warned the players about future violations,” MLB said in its original statement.
The league issued another statement Tuesday to elaborate.
“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.
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"We respect players’ right to free expression. However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations which provides in part that, ‘(a) Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment…’. We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad’, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom,’ and names of family members.”
MLB teams sometimes host Pride Nights during the regular season to support their LGBTQ+ fans. The league has been a leader among the four major U.S. pro sports in hosting Pride Nights, in part because its regular season overlaps with Pride Month in June. Many adopt rainbow-colored uniforms patches or logos, set up special signage around ballparks and invite guests including community leaders and drag performers.
The portion of the Genesis verse cited by Roupp on his hat included God's promise to never again send a worldwide flood and the rainbow in the sky is the sign of that covenant.
“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,” Roupp told reporters.
Giants manager Tony Vitello told reporters nothing was discussed with the pitchers before the game. Vitello said it was “just kind of a general knowledge" that players "have the freedom to do what they think is best.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Now the MLB is taking sides, the AP forgot or blockheaded the past out and failed to include other instances in which MLB players Included writings on their ball caps.
Examples. "during the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, players from both sides wrote "#51" on their hats as a gesture of support for Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia. Vesia and his wife tragically lost their newborn baby daughter as the series started. Did the league warn those players against writing on their caps then?"
Another Dodgers reliever, Blake Treinen, drew two crosses with Charlie Kirk's name on his hat after Kirk was assassinated in 2025. Clayton Kershaw also wrote a Bible verse on his "Pride Night" hat. Were both those players warned against further writing?
Aroldis Chapman and Adolis Garcia in 2021 wrote "SOS CUBA" on their hats during the All-Star Game that year. Were they warned?
Does everyone see how the left works? They selectively enforce their rules and then the left wing media, the AP in this instance, edit and don't tell the full story. The left is afraid of the truth, thus they censor so the mush heads they brainwash remain ignorant and uninformed.
Perhaps there will be a day when the left says "inclusive" and inclusive means everyone, not just the individuals who agree. But wouldn't it be right for MLB to have a "proud to be a Christian night" and force every player to wear a Jesus Loves You ball cap?
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Now the MLB is taking sides, the AP forgot or blockheaded the past out and failed to include other instances in which MLB players Included writings on their ball caps.
Examples. "during the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, players from both sides wrote "#51" on their hats as a gesture of support for Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia. Vesia and his wife tragically lost their newborn baby daughter as the series started. Did the league warn those players against writing on their caps then?"
Another Dodgers reliever, Blake Treinen, drew two crosses with Charlie Kirk's name on his hat after Kirk was assassinated in 2025. Clayton Kershaw also wrote a Bible verse on his "Pride Night" hat. Were both those players warned against further writing?
Aroldis Chapman and Adolis Garcia in 2021 wrote "SOS CUBA" on their hats during the All-Star Game that year. Were they warned?
Does everyone see how the left works? They selectively enforce their rules and then the left wing media, the AP in this instance, edit and don't tell the full story. The left is afraid of the truth, thus they censor so the mush heads they brainwash remain ignorant and uninformed.
Perhaps there will be a day when the left says "inclusive" and inclusive means everyone, not just the individuals who agree. But wouldn't it be right for MLB to have a "proud to be a Christian night" and force every player to wear a Jesus Loves You ball cap?
Welcome to the discussion.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.