A minor league baseball team chose to forfeit a game on Thursday night rather than require its players to wear Pride Night uniforms.
The York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball announced that its scheduled game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs would be forfeited after multiple players refused to wear the team’s Pride Night jerseys. The team released a statement on June 17 confirming the decision, saying it chose to cancel the game rather than mandate that its players wear uniforms it disagreed with.
“Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey,” the organization said, adding that it decided “hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with.”
Rather than play, the Revolution forfeited and proceeded with Pride Night festivities — and announced a $10,000 donation to a local LGBTQ community center.
The team was publicly critical of its own players, stating their refusal was “completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York.”
The Revolution and the Blue Crabs are both members of the Atlantic League and are not affiliated with any MLB franchise.
Giants Pitchers Reclaim the Rainbow
The York forfeiture comes days after a separate act drew national attention in San Francisco.
During the Giants’ Pride Night last Friday, starting pitcher Landen Roupp took the mound with a Bible verse written in silver Sharpie on the front of his rainbow-logoed cap, per Sports Illustrated. Relief pitchers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker followed suit, each inscribing “Gen 9:12-16” on their hats. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, declined to wear the Pride cap altogether, taking the field in the team’s standard black-and-orange.
Genesis 9:12-16 recounts God establishing the rainbow as a symbol of His covenant with Noah and all living creatures – a promise never again to flood the earth. By referencing that passage, the players were framing the rainbow not as an LGBTQ symbol, but as a reclamation of its Christian meaning.
“It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us – his faithfulness and his mercy,” Roupp told reporters. “There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for, and what I stand in. I believe in God.”
MLB responded with a formal warning, citing uniform rules against writing on caps during games. The league did not disclose whether any discipline beyond the warning was being considered as of the time of publication.
Vice President JD Vance mocked the league’s response, posting on X that “Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore.”
Trump won we don’t have to do this anymore https://t.co/Dsl5DH2obf
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 16, 2026
Texas Rangers: The Lone MLB Holdout
The controversy lands during a week when the Texas Rangers are again drawing attention as the only MLB franchise that has never hosted a Pride Night. Rather than join the other 29 clubs in some form of LGBTQ-themed promotion, the Rangers are holding their annual Faith and Family Night at Globe Life Field – June 18 – against the Minnesota Twins.
Players including Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung, Cody Bradford, Jacob Latz, and Jalen Beeks are scheduled to share personal testimonies about how faith shapes their lives on and off the field.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the organization, linking the Faith and Family Night event to the Giants’ Bible-verse controversy and the league’s response. “In Texas, we don’t punish people for living out their faith. We protect that right,” Abbott posted to X.
The Texas Rangers are the only team in Major League Baseball that doesn't host a Pride Night. This week, they're hosting Faith and Family Night instead.
Meanwhile, MLB just warned Giants pitchers for writing Bible verses on their own caps.
In Texas, we don't punish people for…
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 16, 2026
A Pattern Emerging Across Pro Sports
The clashes in baseball echo a controversy that The Dallas Express previously reported from the NBA. In late March, Chicago Bulls guard Jaden Ivey was waived by the team hours after posting Instagram videos criticizing the NBA’s promotion of Pride Month.
The Bulls cited “conduct detrimental to the team” – reasoning that Ivey publicly rejected.
“My conduct was not detrimental to the team,” Ivey said in a podcast appearance. “I was a good teammate. Whatever was needed, whatever was required of me, I was willing. It is strictly because I spoke the truth of the word of God.”
Ivey, a newly converted Christian, called the league’s characterization a “lie” and questioned why the Bulls didn’t simply acknowledge his faith-based objection. Hours after the Bulls announced the waiver, Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford appeared at a postgame press conference wearing a shirt reading “Faith isn’t for the weak.” When asked about the shirt, Gafford declined to elaborate, telling reporters he didn’t want to risk any backlash.
T The Ivey case drew support from pro athletes across several leagues.
New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson posted a passage from Matthew 5:10 on social media alongside a video of Ivey after hearing about the waiver, writing: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:10 https://t.co/CTpkaMx0oT— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreVeyonH4) March 31, 2026
