MLB: Giants' 'lapse' led to players writing Bible verses on pride hats

June 23 (UPI) -- A communication "lapse" by the San Francisco Giants led to players writing Bible verses on their Pride Night hats, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said.

Manfred spoke about the issue through a letter sent Friday to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Hawley posted the letter Monday night on social media. The Giants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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MLB issued warnings to several Giants players last week, pointing to uniform-related rules violations committed during their 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on June 12 in San Francisco.

Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker had placed Biblical references on their hats. Fellow pitcher Sam Hentges wore a plain black Giants cap instead of a Pride Night one.

The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA states that players who violate uniform regulations will first receive warnings, specifying that they will be subject to further discipline if they do not "immediately cease violating" the regulations. Writing messages on apparel is among the violations listed in the agreement.

MLB's warning to the Giants' players drew criticism on social media from those who believed they were being penalized "for their Christian faith," including Hawley, who sent an initial letter to Manfred on June 16.

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Hawley claimed that MLB had a "legal obligation not to discriminate against its employees on the basis of religion" and requested a response and further information from MLB.

The U.S. Department of Justice also launched an investigation, with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon referring the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

MLB said at the time that its verbal warning to the Giants players had "absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message" on the hats. In MLB's response to Hawley, Manfred said that the use of pride emblems on hats and uniforms during Pride Night was requested by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Giants in 2023.

MLB agreed to allow the teams to utilize the emblems on the apparel on a "grandfathered" basis, provided that "no player or uniformed staff would be required to wear them" and that teams would speak to players to ensure they were comfortable with the garb.

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"Unfortunately, this year the Giants' communication with players was inadequate and not clear," Manfred wrote in his letter to Hawley. "Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result.

"The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with the biblical references for the entire game."

Manfred said MLB issued the oral warnings before the league was aware of the "Giants' lapse in communication." He also stated that the players "were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be."

The Giants issued an apology last week, saying that they "respect that individuals may make person choices about participating in team activations." The team also said understood the "choices by individual players has caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that."

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Brubaker and Walker told the California Post last week that they received negative comments and messages after wearing the messages on their hats.

"It was just one of those things where we've seen other baseball players do it, so we went along with it," Brubaker told the Post.