Giants’ Pride Night controversy goes national, continues. Here’s what to know

The San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night has sparked a national debate after several pitchers altered their Pride-themed hats with Bible verses. Politicians from Vice President J.D. Vance to California state Sen. Scott Wiener have weighed in. The A’s observed Pride Night on Wednesday.

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We dug into the issue with two pieces, one Sean Campbell’s story examining what happened and the reaction to it with “A’s host Pride Night tonight as Giants’ hat controversy hits national stage.” And Opinion writer LeBron Hill writes “The Giants Pride Night was marred by bigotry; A’s aim higher tonight.”

Sean covered Wednesday’s A’s game: “A’s fall in 12-4 blowout as Pirates tee off on starter returning from injury.”

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Here are key takeaways:

• During Pride Night against the Chicago Cubs June 12 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on their Pride-themed hats, while pitcher Sam Hentges opted not to wear the hat at all.
• Major League Baseball issued official warnings to the three pitchers, saying the writing violated uniform rules — not the messages themselves. MLB noted similar warnings have been given for messages like “Dad” and “Happy Mother’s Day.”
• Vice President JD Vance posted on X, “Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore.” State Sen. Scott Wiener, who is gay and represents San Francisco, called the pitchers’ actions “bigotry” and said the Giants should condemn the defacement of the hats.
• The Athletics hosted their “Glenn Burke Pride Night” on Wednesday at Sutter Health Park, named for the former A’s outfielder who in 1982 became the first former MLB player to come out as gay. The A’s lost to the Pittsburgh Priates 12-4.
• The A’s did not wear alternate uniforms. Sutter Health Park displayed a scoreboard message: “Welcome to Pride Night” a. Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s chief operating officer, Francesca Slater, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
• The Giants released a statement apologizing for the pain caused to the LGBTQ+ community while saying they respect individual players’ choices. This year, 29 of 30 MLB teams host Pride-themed games in June. The Texas Rangers are the only MLB team not participating.