Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred has responded to Senator Josh Hawley’s probe, and he is standing by the league’s decision to block Bible verses on uniforms while allowing other themed messages in certain settings.
The fight picked up after San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wore hats with Genesis 9:12-16 written on them during a pride-themed game. Roupp said he wore the verse to share “God’s covenant and the promise that He makes to us” and “His faithfulness and His mercy.” The passage refers to the rainbow as a sign of God’s promise never to flood the Earth again.
MLB later warned the players that the writing violated league rules. The league said, “The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” according to its statement.
Hawley, a Missouri Republican, opened a congressional investigation and demanded records from Manfred. In his letter, Hawley said MLB’s position was hard to square with the league’s past behavior. He pointed to the 2020 season, when MLB used uniforms, field markings, and equipment rules to highlight progressive causes.
Manfred replied in a letter dated Friday, June 19, and said the league does not discriminate against Christian players. He wrote that the policy is “enforced without regard to the substance of the messaging.”
He also said, “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 fanbase – even if that was not the intent of the player,” Manfred claimed.
Manfred argued that the warning to the Giants players was not a religious rebuke. “By warning the Giants players that they may not include Bible verses on their caps in the future, MLB was not discriminating or chastising those players based on their religious beliefs; rather MLB was enforcing (with only an oral warning) a long-standing, collectively bargained rule that keeps uniforms clean and avoids controversy.”
He also pointed to certain team events that clubs may schedule at their discretion, including “faith/religious-related games (including four Clubs that have scheduled three such games this year), games celebrating different ethnicities or nationalities that are part of their communities (including, for example, games celebrating Black, Hispanic, Asian, European, Caribbean, and Canadian heritage), games honoring first responders, and games honoring local military veterans.”
Still, Manfred said MLB “does not permit Clubs or players to utilize special uniforms/equipment for such games, or alter the uniform or equipment,” according to the letter.
The controversy is now drawing more heat beyond Capitol Hill. The Florida Attorney General’s office and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are both looking into the issue. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also announced a formal probe and issued a subpoena last week.
Hawley posted about the dispute on X here:
https://x.com/HawleyMO/status/2069180415668326784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw