Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred responded to Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) letter condemning it for threatening players wearing Bible verses on their hats, explaining the rationale for the policy.
Manfred wrote that the policy is “enforced without regard to the substance of the messaging” explaining that the “league does not desire for tis 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.”
At issue is the inclusion of Bible verses on players’ “Pride Night” hats.
Manfred further explained that “warning the Giants players that they may not include Bible verses on their caps in the future, MLB was not enforcing (with only an oral warning) a long-standing, collectively bargained rule that keeps uniforms clean and avoids controversy.”
Last week, Hawley wrote to Manfred expressing his “grave concern” over his “reported decision to issue a formal warning to three Major League Baseball (MLB) players for publicly expressing their Christian faith. This follows a high-profile undercover investigation that revealed at least one MLB team discriminated against a player based on his Catholic faith.”
“You must answer for what appears to be a pattern of discrimination within MLB against baseball players who profess their Christian faith.”
San Francisco Giants player Landen Roupp wore “Gen 9:12-16” on his hat earlier this month. He told reporters, “It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy. That’s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I’m thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want, and express what we want.”
