This past Friday night was “Pride Night” for the San Francisco Giants, which included mandatory uniform hats featuring a rainbow-colored logo. Three players, however, wrote Bible verses on their hats, to which the league expressed dismay according to ESPN.
“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” said MLB (Major Baseball League) chief communications officer Pat Courtney.
The three offenders: Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker – all pitchers who made appearances in the game.
Roupp simply wrote “Gen 9:12-16” on his hat. That Bible excerpt reads:
And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.
SWING AND A MISS: The MLB warning players to stop writing scripture on their rainbow-clad Pride hats. @TomiLahren & @lh_carter sound off with @dagenmcdowell & @BrianBrenberg pic.twitter.com/Orx1gTti6T
— The Bottom Line (@BottomLineFBN) June 16, 2026
Asked whether people would be offended by his Bible verse, Roupp replied, “as a believer, I would push them to read the Bible. God has blessed me in so many ways, and I don’t think I’d be here right now if it wasn’t for him.”
Brubaker and Walker reportedly also wrote from the same verse.
A fourth Giants pitcher, Sam Hentges, took the mound with his regular uniform cap, absent the pride logo. When asked about his decision after the game, Hentges said, “It’s just something that I feel like I was forced to support when I don’t morally support it. There wasn’t hatred behind it. I think that’s kind of something that’s misinterpreted. I don’t hate the LGBTQ community. It’s just something I believed and talked with teammates and family, and they supported it.”
Every single team in the MLB – except the Texas Rangers – hosts a pride night.
Time will tell if the league will stand by its current rules regarding freedom of expression. The National Hockey League (NHL) faced a similar decision after several players across multiple teams noticeably declined to participate in pride-themed gear in 2023. If enough players from other MLB teams buck the status quo on pride nights, the league may be forced to loosen its rules around the issue, or teams may individually choose to minimize similar future events.
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