U.S.A. - Major League Baseball has issued warnings to four San Francisco Giants pitchers after three players wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps and another wore an entirely different hat during the team’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
Starter Landen Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker took the field during Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs with Bible verses written on their rainbow-themed Pride Night caps.
The trio included the inscription “Gen 9:12-16,” a passage referencing God’s covenant with Noah and the rainbow as a sign of that promise.
In an effort to better reflect the league's values, Major League Baseball announced that it had officially rebranded from "MLB" to "MLBTQ+".
On the heels of controversy over players writing Bible verses on their league-mandated Pride uniforms, Commissioner Rob Manfred felt it was time to make the league's stance on gender and sexuality crystal clear.
"This is who we are now," explained Manfred as he unveiled the new logo. "Nothing is more critical to the mission of Major League Baseball than gay stuff. This rebranding reflects the core purpose of our league, which is to talk about who is having relations with whom. We're not here to just throw a ball around or collect hits, saves, and wins. This isn't about some game. This is about sexual deviancy."
According to league sources, several players pushed back against the change, asking if they could instead just play baseball. "I'd like to just throw the ball," said one pitcher on condition of anonymity. "You know, like, baseball. Try to throw strikes and get people out and all that. I'm just not quite making the connection between this game and gay stuff."
At publishing time, Manfred had announced further plans for the league to promote tolerance by banning all people with conservative, traditional values and believers in G-d and the Bible, from playing.
