NEW YORK -- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a letter to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that the San Francisco Giants failed to properly explain to players that they were allowed to decline to wear rainbow-themed caps during the club's annual Pride Night earlier this month.
Several members of the Giants, including starting pitcher Landen Roupp, added Bible verses to the themed cap, prompting a warning from the league that writing on the caps is a violation of league policy.
Hawley penned a letter to Manfred in which he expressed "grave concern" over the warning to the players. Hawley called the warning "dubious" because he feels MLB is already promoting a political viewpoint by having Pride-themed uniforms.
Hawley posted Manfred's response to his letter on social media Monday.
In it, Manfred noted that because some players aren't comfortable wearing Pride-themed uniforms or caps, the league adopted a policy in 2023 of prohibiting clubs from using special uniforms, caps or equipment in their celebration days except under very narrow circumstances, such as special patches honoring deceased members of the baseball community.
That same year, the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have some of the largest LGBTQ+ communities in the U.S., were granted an exemption from the new rule and were permitted use of Pride emblems on caps and uniforms on Pride Night "provided that no players or uniformed staff would be required to wear them, and that the team would speak to the players to make sure they were comfortable with the apparel."
"Unfortunately, this year the Giants' communication with players was inadequate and not clear," Manfred wrote in his letter to Hawley. "Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result.
"The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with biblical references for the entire game. After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation -- unfortunately, it was issued before we became aware of the Giants' lapse in communication," Manfred added. "The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be."