Minor League Baseball Team Cancels ‘Pride’ Night Game over Players’ Refusal to Wear Rainbow Jerseys
A Pennsylvania-based minor league baseball team is cancelling its annual “Pride” night game after several players on the team refused to wear rainbow jerseys for the occasion.
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The York Revolution announced the cancellation of its game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Thursday, saying the team would no longer take the field “out of respect for the Pride Community and the York community as a whole.”
The team will instead host a modified version of its Pride night, which will include an auction of its rainbow-sleeved jerseys.
“[H]osting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game,” the team said in a statement, though it emphasized that this refusal “is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York.”
To make their commitment to supporting the LGBT cause clear, the team donated $10,000 to the Rainbow Rose Center, a nonprofit LGBT center that offers support groups and educational resources, as well as a gender-affirming closet which, according to its website, includes “free transition-related items, such as prosthetics, undergarments, and shoes.”
The game’s cancellation is being treated like a rainout, so the Revolution could still face the Blue Crabs later in the season. The teams play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent partner league of Major League Baseball.
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The minor league controversy comes after three San Francisco Giants players received a warning from Major League Baseball for writing Bible verses on their “Pride” night hats. The MLB’s decision to get involved has received pushback from several political figures on the right, including Vice President JD Vance and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley wrote a letter to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred on June 16 expressing his “grave concern” over MLB’s warning to the three players.
“MLB has said this is a content-neutral policy that MLB ‘respect[s] players’ right to free expression,’” Hawley wrote. “But this is dubious, given that MLB is openly promoting a political viewpoint and possibly compelling adherence to that viewpoint.” He brought up the “Black Lives Matter” and “United for Change” uniform patches and political messages on cleats permitted in 2020.
“This does not appear to be an isolated incident,” he added, citing investigations into a Catholic Washington Nationals player not featured in promotions due to his religious beliefs. “The freedom to live out one’s faith does not end at the ballpark gate.”
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