Amid Florida probe, MLB's Manfred gives Giants an error for Pride Night uniform communication

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred says three San Franscisco Giants pitchers who wrote Bible verses on Pride Night caps will not face fines or discipline – “nor will they ever be.”

Manfred, whose comments were in response Monday to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, also denied MLB was discriminating against the players’ Christian beliefs and stated the league was only following its uniform policies when the players were given a warning for writing “Genesis 9:12-16” over the rainbow-themed “SF” logo on the caps worn that night by the Giants.

The commissioner also blamed poor team communication for failing to inform the players that wearing the caps was optional.

“We agree with the principle that players or other club employees at their place of work should not be compelled to participate in a celebratory event (particularly by wearing something on their person) if such participation would violate their sincere religious beliefs or values,” Manfred wrote.

Those were among the concerns of Hawley, as well as Florida Attorney General James Uthmeiner, who announced Friday his office was launching an investigation to determine whether MLB was engaging in religious discrimination and unfair trade practices by “selective enforcing” of uniform rules.

The Florida probe came a day after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would begin a civil rights inquiry through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The controversy grew out of the Giants’ June 12 Pride Night at Oracle Park, when four pitchers protested the team-issued rainbow-colored hats for the game.

Relievers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on their caps, while pitcher Sam Hentges chose not to wear the themed cap at all. The verses reference God establishing a rainbow with Noah as a sign of his covenant after the Great Flood.

“It’s something that I believe in. I stand firm in that,” Roupp said. “Thankfully, we live in a country where we have freedom to believe what we want.”

Detailing MLB celebration themes

Manfred agreed and made clear that any kind of writing on uniforms was a violation, not the specific content of the writing. That is a collectively bargained rule that states a player “may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment,” and equal enforcement was required to “survive legal challenge.”

“The rationale for the policy is that the league does not desire for its players to become messengers for political or social issues while in uniform playing baseball games because many messages have the potential to offend some segment of our fan base – even if that was not the intent of the player,” Manfred wrote.

He explained, MLB has 12 league events each year in which the uniform or cap is altered to commemorate the day, and all clubs must participate: Mother's Day, Father's Day, Armed Forces Weekend, Play Ball Weekend, Memorial Day, Lou Gehrig Day, Independence Day, Hall of Fame Weekend, Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, 9/11, Jackie Robinson Day and Roberto Clemente Day.

“We are unaware of any significant complaints from fans or players regarding these celebratory days,” he wrote.

In addition, he wrote, clubs may host their own commemorative days, such as honoring various ethnicities or nationalities, first responders, local military veterans or religious-themed events. Since 2023, MLB does not permit special uniforms for such games, Manfred wrote, and the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers requested the use of Pride logos to be grandfathered in.

“We understand that some players or other on-field personnel have not been comfortable wearing the pride emblem on their uniform based on their religious belief,” Manfred wrote. “… MLB agreed to allow (teams) to utilize hats/uniforms with the emblems provided that no player 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."

That’s where the Giants fell short, he said. It was the team’s job to inform players that wearing Pride Night caps was optional, but the effort was “inadequate and not clear.”

“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.”

Florida and EEOC investigations

Manfred’s explanation would appear to answer most of the concerns expressed by Uthmeier and Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division assistant attorney general, who announced her federal agency was referring the incident to the EEOC to look into whether MLB may have failed to reasonably accommodate employees' religious expressions.

“The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the league’s vehicle for pro-pride messages,” Dhillon wrote in a letter to Manfred. “Federal law is clear: employers must modify their uniform requirements to reasonably accommodate their employees’ exercise of religion.”

Uthmeier echoed the DOJ with allegations of MLB previously approving uniform “modifications,” with statements on cleats, Black Lives Matter sleeve patches, and other personal markings.

In his letter to Manfred, the Florida attorney general expressed skepticism that the warning over the caps was “routine” and cited “erratic” enforcement of rules by “punishing Christian players for displaying Bible verses while routinely permitting and even encouraging secular, ‘social justice,’ and ideological messages."

"A pattern or practice of selectively enforcing its rules to benefit favored secular beliefs over disfavored religious beliefs would not only potentially violate Florida civil rights law, but it would also violate the League’s own policies," Uthmeier wrote. "And a practice of claiming not to discriminate based on religion while discriminating based on religion could further amount to an unfair or deceptive trade practice in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act."

MLB was given a July 23 deadline to respond to Uthmeier’s subpoena, which included requests for all uniform and equipment rules, provisions cited for the June warnings, enforcement history since 2020, Pride Night policies, internal deliberations on the June warnings, and records for players and personnel at the Rays, Marlins and the other 13 teams that use the state for spring training.

The Rays, who held their annual Pride Night on Saturday, had a similar controversy in 2022, when five pitchers opted out of wearing Pride-theme colors and on their jerseys and caps. Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson reportedly peeled off the uniform logo and wore the standard Tampa Bay cap. Adam said it was a “faith-based decision.”

There were no reports of warnings or discipline, with team officials, including manager Kevin Cash, framing it as a personal choice respected within club policy.

Uthmeier’s MLB probe comes weeks after his office launched an investigation into the NFL’s Rooney Rule for interviewing minority coaching candidates, and more specifically, the league’s diversity and inclusion policies.