After the MLB issued a warning to San Francisco Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker for inscribing a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps, the league was called out by American comedian Rob Schneider as “Anti-Christian.” He also vowed to pay fines to any player in the league who doesn’t wish to wear the cap.
On Friday, Roupp, Brubaker and Walker wrote the verse “Gen 9:12-16” on their rainbow-themed caps. Another Giants pitcher, Sam Hentges, decided not to wear the cap altogether, choosing to wear the traditional Giants cap.
The verse, which appears in the Bible after Noah and his family are saved from the flood, sees God vowing never to bring such calamity on Earth and offers the rainbow as a covenant to men. Christian groups have long used it to “reclaim” the rainbow from the LGBTQ+ community.
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On Monday, MLB’s Chief Communications Officer, Pat Courtney, released a statement warning the Giants players about their inscriptions. In a later statement, the league had explained that the warning was a standard procedure for any writings on caps that the league doesn’t allow.
“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 said. “We respect players’ right to free expression. However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited.”
Despite the explanation, MLB’s stance stirred a lot of controversy online. One of the major public figures to join the bandwagon was conservative supporter Rob Schneider.
“I will pay the fines for any @MLB Christian player who wears a Bible verse on their uniform,” he wrote on X. “MLB is ANTI-CHRISTIAN.”
Schneider, worth $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, was a former Democrat supporter who switched sides to the Republican Party in 2013. He has had questionable views regarding vaccines, women, and transgender people in the past.
US Veep JD Vance mocks MLB for warning Giants players
Taking to X on Tuesday, United States Vice President JD Vance took an ironical tone to call out the MLB for issuing a cautionary to the Giants pitchers.
“Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore,” he wrote.
This isn’t the first time MLB’s Pride Month celebrations have resulted in major conflict between the players practicing Christian faith and the teams. Last season, several Tampa Bay Rays pitchers declined to wear Pride-themed jerseys. Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw has publicly advocated his Christian faith, and had also inscribed the same verse on his cap last year.
Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy
