SAN FRANCISCO — In celebration of Pride Night, every Giants player wore a rainbow logo on their cap representing the LGBTQ+ community during their 5-1 loss to the Cubs on Friday night.
Starting pitcher Landen Roupp, however, made an alteration seen before by some big league players, inscribing a bible verse in silver adjacent to the rainbow logo.
Reliever J.T. Brubaker followed Roupp’s lead, and left-hander Sam Hentges took the protest a step further by refusing to wear the rainbow cap at all in lieu of the Giants’ traditional orange.
Afterward, Roupp, who suffered the loss, clarified that “there’s no hate at all” behind the gesture.
Giants pitcher Landen Roupp had a Bible verse inscribed on his hat Friday night. John Hefti-Imagn Images“It’s just what I stand for,” Roupp said. “I believe in God.”
It is not an unprecedented move for one of the many religious members of Major League Baseball to take exception to their team’s Pride night on the grounds that it conflicts with their faith.
The most recent example was Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, who like Hentges refused to wear the Dodgers’ Pride Night cap earlier this month. Roupp didn’t go that far, but he took a similar action as Clayton Kershaw, who also inscribed the Gen. 9:12-16 verse on his cap.
“It’s something I believe in and I stand firm in that,” Roupp said. “Thankfully we live in a country where we have the freedom to believe what we want.”
In the past, former Giants shortstop Nick Ahmed took the same move, opting for the same passage, Genesis 9:16.
The verse repurposes the rainbow as a symbol of God, stating in part, “When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’”
Roupp, in his third major-league season, was raised in rural North Carolina and attended the private Faith Christian School in Rocky Mount before attending UNC Wilmington for college.
In Roupp’s social media, he displays the bible verse Philippians 4:13.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen refused to wear the team’s Pride Night hat earlier this month. Getty Images“The rainbow is a symbol of God’s covenant to us,” Roupp said, “and us as believers stand firm in that.”
Despite the apparent show of solidarity from the Giants’ pitching staff, manager Tony Vitello said the topic was “not really” discussed as a group beforehand.
“Just kind of a general knowledge of the individuals [who] have the freedom to do what they think is best,” said Vitello, who wore the Pride cap but didn’t weigh in on the decisions by a handful of his players. “I do think it’s been apparent from Day 1, it’s pretty impressive how the Giants as an organization try to embrace the entire community.”
The Giants have the longest-running Pride celebration of any team in the majors, becoming the first team in professional sports to host an HIV/AIDS awareness game in 1994. They hosted their first official Pride night in 2000 and first incorporated the rainbow flag into their on-field apparel in 2021.
In 2022, they and the Dodgers became the first teams to both wear Pride hats during a game.
