Introducing a Radical New Concept … Sports Reporting Actually Reporting on Sports!

Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere beneath the top deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken promise me they are hard at work doing deep-dive analysis of the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft taking place June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, New York …

More like deep-diving into another box of fish crackers.

Anyway, in a sports landscape laced with multiple stories — the abovementioned NHL draft, the NBA draft taking place tonight (June 23, 2026) and tomorrow, that World Cup thingy currently capturing the world’s attention almost as much as ranch dressing and Buc-ee’s have captured the hearts of European soccer fans — we once again feel the need to examine The Story That Won’t Go Away. Namely, the continued barking by the sports media and others at a volume level sufficient to drown out the sea lions at Pier 39 over a few members of the San Francisco Giants pitching staff either writing Bible verses on their “Pride Night” hats for the game during which said headwear was issued (June 12, 2026) or declining to wear the hat altogether. Previous coverage by my RedState colleagues Sister Toldjah, Brad Essex, and Rusty Weiss along with yours truly have detailed the fine mess into which all involved parties have gotten themselves. It’s almost as messy as the Giants' season has been thus far; more on that in a bit.

Today (June 23, 2026), Giants President of Baseball Operations and franchise legend Buster Posey, who served as the team’s catcher and leader during its recent glory run of three World Series championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014, did his best to put the matter behind the organization. Speaking to the media, he said:

I’d like to recognize that the organization has shared its response to Pride Night, and I understand that there’s strong feelings on this topic. There’s differing perspectives. And, out of respect to everybody involved, it’s not something that I’m going to revisit.

I understand that some fans are upset and frustrated, and I can promise you this is something that we’ve talked about a lot internally. And, we’ll continue to do so.

You know, our focus is on the team right now — the upcoming draft, the trade deadline, and trying to win games. So, anybody that has baseball questions, I’m happy to take baseball questions from you now.

As the video clip illustrates, no one had baseball questions.

What frustrates me, as a Giants fan and a sportswriter, is the utter inability of the media to let a pet peeve social issue go when there are many, many questions related to the franchise as it presently stands that are begging to be answered. I’m not talking about the bloviated bellowing bozos, the faded formers and bitter never-weres who are utterly convinced that having a mouth and a working microphone somehow gives gravitas to their guttural blubbery belly belching poorly disguised as sports commentary. It is the supposed professionals who can’t stop kvetching that are further aggravating what is already the most aggravating year imaginable for the fan base.

If Buster Posey wants to answer baseball questions, the Giants PR staff should give me a call. I’ve got plenty. Here are but a few:

• At the start of play today (June 23, 2026), the Giants are 15 games below .500. For a team that at the start of the season was often touted as having a legitimate shot at the postseason, this is disappointing in the extreme. What has gone wrong?

• Is there any possibility of becoming relevant this year?

From these opening forays, appropriate follow-up questions would arise. Has Vitello lost the clubhouse? Is there anything you can do at Oracle Park to make it a more attractive destination for free agents? What is the balancing point between spending what a major league team needs to lay out to be genuinely competitive and fiscal responsibility? Do the Giants want to go toe-to-toe spending-wise with the Los Angeles Dodgers? Can the team afford to do so? What is your view, both from your current position as management/ownership and your previous experience as a player, of the present labor situation that is threatening to shut baseball down in 2027? There are doubtless many other topics warranting discussion, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.

See? Little ol’ me can do it. Honest, challenging yet respectful and fair questioning on baseball matters. No politics. No social implications. Only the basic enjoyment of sport. Which is for me, and I strongly suspect an overwhelming majority of sports fans, why we watch the games. Nothing more, nothing less.

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