It took less than one pitch for the San Francisco Giants to ruin their Friday night game. The stands had yet to fill in. The clock had yet to strike 7:10. The umpire had yet to say “play ball.”
And yet the Giants, in a season full of embarrassment, had already delivered their most disgraceful moment of the season.
Landen Roupp took the mound for the team’s annual Pride Night, and scribbled across the rainbow SF insignia on his hat were the words “Gen 9:11-16.”
The bible verses Roupp wrote referenced God’s creation of the rainbow. It’s become a common verse for homophobes to quote, in their never ending quest to reclaim that colorful arc in the sky from the Big Gay Agenda.
And it gets worse! After Roupp got rocked by the Chicago Cubs — and I refused to be upset by it — J.T. Brubaker entered the game (after a brief interlude from the ever-lovable Erik Miller). As though upset that Roupp had been so subtle with his writing, Brubaker one-upped his teammate, scrawling “Genesis 9:13-15” in lettering so large one would assume a toddler wrote it, except toddlers are more mature and understanding than that.
When Brubaker’s night ended, the Giants took a break from the biblical proclamations, as Sam Hentges filed his protest against The Gays by refusing to wear the Pride Night hat at all, opting instead for the basic orange and black Giants hat.
Finishing off the night was the recently-returned Ryan Walker, who opted for a less in-your-face version of Roupp and Brubaker’s message, putting his Genesis reference on the side of his Pride Night cap, rather than on the front of it (he also had easily the best penmanship of the group, which of course is a skill dripping in masculinity).
In all, the Giants sent five pitchers to the mound, and four of them turned to the crowd in attendance and proverbially tossed up a pair of middle fingers. Screw who you are, they said. We’ve got a colorful semicircle to protect.
It was equal parts bigoted and embarrassing, and blame deserves to shine throughout the organization. I don’t recall this ever happening with the Giants at prior Pride Nights, so it’s a reasonable assumption to make that Tony Vitello was okay with this “expression” where other managers have shut it down. It speaks poorly to the leaders in the organization, like Logan Webb, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman, who prioritized the desires of a few players over the comfort of their fans (and, you know … humanity).
On a night meant to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community — which, it goes without saying, is a fairly significant demographic anywhere, but especially San Francisco — the Giants instead sent a message loudly and clearly: not all are welcome (though they’re still more than welcome to spend a few hundred bucks on tickets and overpriced beer, of course).
Their “explanations,” predictably, were lacking.
Sure, no hate at all, Landen. Just so much insecurity that he couldn’t wear a hat with a few colors on it without having to deface it. Big strong man scared of a little rainbow. The mind can hardly fathom such profound masculinity.
Anyway, the Giants lost and I don’t care. Tonight I’m thinking about Kyle Harrison, who was plastered across every Pride Night ad a year ago, grinning like a kid in a candy store while showing off his Pride Night bucket hat. Tonight I’m thinking about Matt Cain, good ol’ country boy that he was, popping up on a Giants PSA to tell fans that baseball is for everyone. Tonight I’m thinking about Solomon Bates, the Giants pitching prospect who came out as gay shortly after his Minor League career came to an end. I’m thinking of the closeted professional baseball players across the Majors and Minors, each of whom has surely spent countless hours wondering if their teammates would accept them.
I hope they’re all having good nights.
More importantly, I’m thinking of the thousands of queer Giants fans in attendance on Friday, and the tens or hundreds of thousands more watching at home, who not only had to watch their favorite team prove for the umpteenth time that they’re bad at baseball, but also had had to be reminded that even their favorite athletes don’t accept them. That the organization, from top to bottom, would rather drown with freedom of bigoted speech than commit itself to genuine acceptance.
The Giants just keep finding ways to embarrass themselves and let us down. Hopefully next time they keep it confined to baseball.
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