An independent league baseball team in Pennsylvania has forfeited a game after many of its players refused to wear rainbow-colored Pride Night-themed jerseys.
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s York Revolution forfeited to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Thursday. As team officials later explained in a statement, ‘a number’ of its players objected to parting in the club’s 11th annual Pride Night in observance of LGBTQ+ history and civil rights. Those players have not been identified publicly.
The team, which is partnered with several pro-LGBTQ+ organizations, responded to the controversy by pledging $10,000 to the Rainbow Rose Center, which aims to promote visibility and inclusion in southeastern Pennsylvania.
‘To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York,’ read the team statement.
Despite the forfeit, the Revolution still planned to hold a Pride Night celebration on Thursday evening. Furthermore, the team offered ticket exchanges to fans for future games.
The independent league’s controversy comes amid a similar issue within Major League Baseball as several players have altered rainbow hats or simply refused to wear them as their respective teams observed Pride Month.
The York Revolution have held Pride Night for the past 10 seasons, but ‘a number of players’ opted to forfeit Thursday’s game rather than play in rainbow-colored Pride-themed jerseys
York’s Chris Vallimont and Braden Scott are seen in a silly slide show on the team’s Instagram page in May. It’s unclear which players refused to partake in Thursday’s Pride Night
San Francisco Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker drew the ire of league officials on Friday after scrawling handwritten references to Genesis 9:12-16 on their rainbow-themed caps. Adding to the clubhouse divide, Giants reliever Sam Hentges elected to opt out of the Pride festivities entirely, choosing to take the field in the club’s standard black cap instead.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen wore a regular cap without the rainbow logo during Pride Night at the World Series winners earlier in June.
Last season, his then-Dodgers teammate Clayton Kershaw referenced the same Bible verse as Roupp did on the team’s Pride Night: ‘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.’
Many of the players have received public support from fans and even actor Rob Schneider, who accused MLB of being ‘anti-Christian.’ Schneider went so far as to offer to pay the fines of any player penalized for refusing to wear rainbow Pride-themed jerseys or hats.
Major League Baseball moved quickly to de-escalate the brewing culture war, releasing an official statement clarifying that the reprimands were strictly procedural rather than an attack on faith.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp wrote a Bible verse on his cap on pride night
The caps changed Giants logo from white to the rainbow colors to honor the gay community
League officials emphasized that the verbal warnings carried no financial penalties, insisting the rules regarding uniform modifications are applied uniformly regardless of the 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,’ the league noted in a statement.
‘We respect players’ right to free expression,’ the statement continued. ‘However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited.’ The league noted it has issued identical warnings for family names.
The Revolution faced some criticism online, where fans urged the team to keep ‘politics out of sports!’
But coming off a 24-12 loss to the Blue Crabs, many commenters instead chose to focus on baseball than the LGBTQ+ controversy.
‘I’d forfeit after giving up 24 runs in the last game too,’ one wrote on Instagram.
The Atlantic League has released a statement on the controversy, saying it ‘reluctantly received’ notice of the club’s forfeit.
‘Consistent with our code of conduct, the league is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment to fans, guests and all members of our communities,’ the statement continued. ‘We support York and all member clubs in upholding those standards.’
