Several San Francisco Giants pitchers made a quiet statement about their Christian faith at Pride Night last week by writing Biblical verses on their rainbow-colored caps.
Major League Baseball promptly threatened to punish them for it.
Starting pitcher Landen Roupp, reliever J.T. Brubaker, and reliever Ryan Walker each wrote a small Bible verses on the Giants’ special Pride Night rainbow caps during Friday’s game at Oracle Park. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, went further, refusing to wear the rainbow cap at all and donning the team’s standard orange and black hat instead.
Roupp’s verse was Genesis 9:12-16, written in white lettering beside the rainbow logo. It is God’s promise to Noah to never again flood the entire Earth, a promise that is kept through rainbows in storms.
“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.'”
The verse was written on the same rainbow cap the league required players to wear in celebration of Pride month. The players were not covering the logo or defacing the cap.
After the game, in which the Giants lost 5-1, Roupp explained his reasoning plainly.
“It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy,” he told reporters. “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.”
“There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for, and what I stand in. I believe in God,” he added.
When asked how he would respond to someone from the gay community who objected to his verse, Roupp didn’t retreat.
“First of all, as a believer, I would push them to read the Bible,” he said. “I think God has blessed me in so many ways, and I don’t think I would be here right now if it wasn’t for him. I’m just thankful that God has put me in this situation and that I can go out and share his kingdom.”
The expressions of Christian faith were not well-received in the sports media. Left-wing sportswriters criticized Roupp and his teammates. MLB quickly stepped in.
“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” said Pat Courtney, MLB’s chief communications officer, said.
Perhaps Roupp and others should quote the Islamic holy book, the Quran, on their caps next, and watch heads explode.