Sen. Josh Hawley is demanding records from Major League Baseball after the league warned San Francisco Giants pitchers who wrote Bible verses on their caps during a Pride Night game.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has opened a congressional inquiry into Major League Baseball after the league warned several San Francisco Giants players who wore Bible verses on their caps during a Pride Night game.
The dispute began after MLB issued warnings to Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp and relief pitchers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker for writing verses from the book of Genesis on their uniforms.
Roupp started the game with “Gen 9:12-16” written next to the Giants logo on a special-edition Pride cap. The passage refers to God’s covenant with Noah, symbolized by the rainbow as a promise never again to flood the Earth.
After the game, Roupp told reporters he wrote the verse to share “God’s covenant and the promise that He makes to us” and “His faithfulness and His mercy.”
“It’s just something I believe in, and I stand firm in that. Thankfully, we live in a country where we have the freedom to believe what we want,” Roupp said.
In a letter to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, Hawley said the warnings raise questions about whether the league is applying its rules unevenly toward Christian players.
“You must answer for what appears to be a pattern of discrimination within MLB against baseball players who profess their Christian faith,” Hawley wrote.
Hawley also cited recent undercover reporting by James O’Keefe involving Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson and allegations related to Christian pitcher Trevor Williams.
MLB has said the warning was based on uniform rules and not on the religious viewpoint of the players. Hawley challenged that explanation, citing the league’s past support for political and social messaging.
Hawley questioned MLB’s claim that “writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s uniform regulations.”
“MLB has said this is a content-neutral policy and that MLB ‘respect[s] players’ right to free expression.’ But this is dubious, given that MLB is openly promoting a political viewpoint and possibly compelling adherence to that viewpoint,” Hawley wrote.
He said MLB’s explanation is undermined by its actions in 2020, when the league permitted and promoted messages such as “Black Lives Matter” and “United for Change.”
“The league’s claim that it merely forbids ‘writing of any kind’ on its uniforms does not survive a cursory review of the league’s recent history,” Hawley wrote. “In 2020, MLB itself turned its uniforms and its fields into a billboard for political and social messages. It created jersey patches reading ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘United for Change.’ It authorized ‘BLM’ to be stenciled onto pitching mounds. And it suspended its own equipment rules so that players could display progressive political slogans on their cleats.”
“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 continued. “Yet when three players added a handful of characters citing the Book of Genesis to their caps, the league reached for its rulebook.”
Hawley requested several categories of documents from MLB, including the full uniform regulation used to warn the Giants pitchers and any internal guidance on writing, markings or symbols on player apparel and equipment.
He also asked for a list of every instance over the past five seasons in which MLB warned, fined or disciplined a player or club under that regulation, including the message involved and the action taken.
Hawley requested any league or club policy, communication or practice concerning whether players are included or excluded from team-controlled media or promotions based on religious expression or beliefs.
He also asked for records showing whether players are required, encouraged or expected to wear Pride Night caps, jerseys or other themed apparel, and whether declining to participate could affect playing time, roster decisions, media promotion or standing within an organization.
Finally, Hawley requested documents related to MLB’s approvals or directives for “Black Lives Matter,” “United for Change” or similar messaging on jerseys, mounds or equipment, including any guidance that relaxed equipment rules for social or political messages.
Hawley shared his letter on X, writing, “What does MLB think it’s doing penalizing players for their Christian faith? They owe us some answers. Right now.”
The controversy has drawn criticism from other Republican officials and conservative commentators.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said her state, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, could take action if MLB continues to “discriminate against players for their faith.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose state is home to the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins, also criticized the league and wrote, “You’ll be hearing from my office soon.”
OutKick founder Clay Travis criticized MLB’s handling of the issue and called for the league to “stop pride nights,” arguing they are “counterproductive.”
Actor and comedian Rob Schneider said he would pay fines for any Christian player who wears a Bible verse on a uniform and accused MLB of being “ANTI-CHRISTIAN.”
In an interview Wednesday with Kayleigh McEnany on Fox, Schneider criticized MLB’s Pride Night policies and argued the league was showing hypocrisy by allowing some messages while warning Christian players.
“Why are they trying to make baseball gay?” Schneider said. “We have enough gay sports. We have the WNBA. We have figure skating. I mean, cornhole is on ESNP!”
The league has not announced public discipline beyond the warnings described in the reports. Hawley’s inquiry seeks to determine whether MLB has applied its uniform rules consistently or treated religious expression differently from other political and social messages it has allowed in recent seasons.
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