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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., received a letter from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps, saying they would not face any discipline for what has now been called a controversial moment.
Hawley, who appeared on “The Will Cain Show,” was happy with the response from Manfred and MLB.
“It sounds like they’re admitting they’re wrong, Will, which is exactly the case,” Hawley told Cain. “I mean, the commissioner admitted in that letter that he shouldn’t have warned ‘the players’. That they have the right not to wear uniforms, that they have the right to express their religious beliefs. And he said, as you just quoted: ‘No player will be disciplined or fined for their religious beliefs.’
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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Jan. 15, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Frankly, I don’t care who he blames for it, as long as he admits he’s wrong, as long as the players’ religious freedom rights are protected.”
Hawley added that he thought this was a “great result” even though he needed to contact MLB about it.
MLB COMMISSIONER TELLS SEN. HAWLEY GIANTS PLAYERS WILL NOT BE DISCIPLINED FOR BIBLE VERSES ON PRIDE NIGHT HATS
“I want to emphasize that this is what the commissioner of baseball is responding to me,” he explained. “He said that no player, in any club, will be forced to wear this type of uniform that conveys political messages. Furthermore, no one will be discriminated against because of their religious faith.
“Now, that should be common sense, Will. The fact that we had to go through all this – I had to threaten to take him in front of the Senate, put him under oath. He’s being investigated, the league is up to other things. That’s all ridiculous. It was stupid of Major League Baseball to do any of this, but I’m glad they admitted they were wrong.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on his Pride Night-themed cap. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
“It’s right that Major League Baseball admits they made a big mistake here, and it’s right that the first amendment is protected in Major League Baseball. I hope it moves forward.”
One Giants player opted not to wear his Pride Night cap on June 12 at Oracle Park. Instead, reliever Sam Hentges wore the team’s standard black and orange cap during the game.
But it was pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker who wrote Bible verses during the rainbow logo on Giants caps during the team’s game that sparked controversy. Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on his cap, which references a passage in Genesis that describes the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant after the flood.
MLB had initially said the writing violated league rules against players altering their uniforms or equipment. And in the letter to Hawley, Manfred noted that the rule was collectively negotiated with the MLBPA and prohibits players from writing, adhering, pasting, embroidering or displaying messages on clothing or equipment.
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello lifts starter Landen Roupp during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, on June 12, 2026. (John Hefti/Image Images)
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“The policy applies regardless of the content of the message,” Manfred wrote in his letter. The purpose of the rule is to prevent players from displaying any political or social messages, but freedom of religion falls under the First Amendment, which was the argument of Hawley, and others, all along.
“Let’s get back to God and country, play some baseball and stop all this woke garbage,” Hawley concluded.
