RedState reported earlier on the disgraceful warning Major League Baseball issued in the aftermath of three San Francisco Giants baseball players (pitcher Landen Roupp, along with relievers J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker) refusing to bend the knee to "Pride Night" by writing Bible verses on their rainbow-themed hats during their Friday game against the Chicago Cubs.
As my colleague Rusty Weiss noted, these were "Bible verses, mind you, that explain the true symbolism of the rainbow—God's covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature after the great flood." The verses were Genesis 9:12-16:
Reclaim the rainbow. It's a symbol of God's promise, not a symbol of pride
— Chris (@crza_11) June 16, 2026
Genesis 9:12-16 pic.twitter.com/M8a4JgUlll
The Monday warning stated that "The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations." In a follow-up statement, they pretended they weren't issuing the warning because they didn't like the Christian 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." Sure.
As one might imagine, this has royally ticked off a big chunk of the MLB's fan base, among them being Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who immediately demanded answers from MLB officials and hinted that a public congressional hearing might be in order to air out all the dirty laundry so that fans can see exactly what they're up to (bolded emphasis added by me):
The league’s claim that it merely forbids “writing of any kind” on its uniforms does not survive a cursory review of the league’s recent history. In 2020, MLB itself turned its uniforms and its fields into a billboard for political and social messages. It created jersey patches reading “Black Lives Matter” and “United for Change.” It authorized “BLM” to be stenciled onto pitching mounds. And it suspended its own equipment rules so that players could display progressive political slogans on their cleats. The league went beyond tolerating speech—it designed speech, promoted speech, and shoehorned social and political messages into the game broadcast to millions of Americans. Yet when three players added a handful of characters citing the Book of Genesis to their caps, the league reached for its rulebook.
This does not appear to be an isolated incident. Your organization’s recent action follows an undercover investigation which revealed an admission from a Washington Nationals executive that a Catholic player on the team was not included in promotional materials for the team because of his faith. That executive has since been fired, but not before the anti-Christian bigotry was exposed.
[...]
My concern is sharpened by the singular legal position that Major League Baseball occupies. Alone among America’s professional sports leagues, baseball enjoys a sweeping, judicially manufactured exemption from the federal antitrust laws—a privilege the Senate Judiciary Committee has examined with bipartisan skepticism in recent years. A league that benefits from such an extraordinary dispensation owes the public a corresponding measure of accountability, and it invites the closest scrutiny when it appears to wield its market power to punish Americans for their beliefs. That exemption, in any event, has never been understood to shield the league from its legal obligation not to discriminate against its employees on the basis of religion.
"The freedom to live out one’s faith does not end at the ballpark gate," Hawley went on to write. "Americans of every creed are entitled to confidence that the institutions of our national pastime will not single out religious expression for punishment while celebrating messages of the league’s own choosing. I trust the league shares that commitment, and I look forward to your prompt and complete response."
What does MLB think it’s doing penalizing players for their Christian faith?
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 16, 2026
They owe us some answers. Right now. pic.twitter.com/yDPmjC6SMZ
Hawley wasn't the only prominent GOP figure to weigh in. Vice President J.D. Vance had this response:
Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore https://t.co/Dsl5DH2obf
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 16, 2026
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also went off:
MLB execs had no issue with acts of protest while cities were burned down by left-wing mobs in 2020. In fact, MLB changed the rules to allow more left-wing messaging!
— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 16, 2026
Meanwhile, Christians are singled out and targeted for taking part in a religious protest. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/F90BUwujdC
From what I understand, the MLB's attendance has been bouncing back over the last four years after previously seeing declines. They are not going to like Hawley's strong insinuation that he's about to haul them into a Senate committee hearing, especially with America 250 celebrations already underway.
There's an old saying about baseball being "as American as apple pie," and you can bet your sweet bippy that the MLB is trying to figure its way out of a seemingly no-win situation to avoid any more bad publicity: fauxfend the LGBTQ Alphabet Mafia by changing the "rule" about handwritten/affixed personal messages or further anger a very ticked off United States senator by standing by their warning? Decisions, decisions.
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