- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,196,105
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images, John Hefti-Imagn Images
During the Giants’ annual Pride Night celebration, which honors San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community, four San Francisco players protested the team’s hats, which featured a rainbow version of the team’s logo.
Three pitchers, Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker, wrote a Bible verse on their Pride Night hats. The verses all referenced similar passages in Genesis.
The protest has become the latest lightning rod in the cultural discussion around LGBTQ+ acceptance and inclusivity in places like Major League Baseball. For its part, the league released a statement on Monday, saying “the writing on the cap violates our rules and, consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.”
That statement helped kickstart a culture-war conversation in right-wing circles, with many Republican political leaders criticizing the league and calling out the perceived hypocrisy of admonishing players over their expression of beliefs. Vice President J.D. Vance even chimed in.
On Tuesday, MLB sent out a second statement, saying that its warning was unrelated to the specifics of the players’ messages and directly regarding any alteration to an official uniform.
“To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message,” the statement reads. “We respect players’ right to free expression. However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s Uniform Regulations, which provides in part that, ‘[a] Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment…’. We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad’, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members.”
The Giants have tried to keep their heads down amid the drama, but team broadcaster Mike Krukow shared his thoughts on the players and how their decision doesn’t align with the demographics and culture that San Francisco and the Bay Area want to foster.
“I think that you have the right as a player to believe and say whatever you want,” Krukow told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But you have to take a broader look at the city you’re playing in. What makes San Francisco so great is the acceptance of others — ethnicities, opinions, cultures — and that extends to the gay community.
“I would just hope they would understand the demographic of San Francisco and respect people for who they are. What you do to your uniform, that has weight to it. You can offend people. And why would you do that?”
Krukow was also asked about the situation during a recent appearance on KNBR, and he further explained why he feels that playing for the Giants comes with a responsibility to represent the larger community.
“It’s really a subject that is so impassioned, and I obviously respect the right for these guys to voice their opinion. I mean, that’s what a lot of men and women gave their lives for these ballplayers to do. Do I agree with it? Well, no.
“I think that once you’ve lived in the Bay Area for a number of years, like we have, you understand that the strength of this city is its ethnicity. It’s its culture. It’s the freedom for people, and to be able to come to a city and be free. And that’s a powerful thing, and that’s the thing about San Francisco that I love the most. And I think when you’re a player, and you come into this environment, it’s your responsibility to know just how sensitive this city is in regards to that cultural freedom and religious freedom and just the way that you live your life.
“I think they were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community. It was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community. This is what has been incredible: the way that the reaction has centered around the emotion that Northern California has for the gay community.
“What comes out of this, hopefully, is education. You know, we talked about this in my house last night. We had dinner with my son Baker, his wife Selena, and their two children, our grandkids, Coen, who’s 15, and Reagan, who’s 13. And it was quite a discussion. And one of the things that came out of it from Reagan was, “Grandpa, we’re always so happy at the ballpark.” And that’s true. And she said, “I’m sad that these guys did what they did. But I’m also sad that the 21 players that wore the hats, that stood tall and supportive of the gay community, they were not applauded for what they did.”
The larger conversation around the Giants’ Pride Night celebration and the players’ protest is likely to keep going for a while as it’s red meat for certain people at a time when they’re getting close to losing the cultural authority they’ve briefly earned. But it seems very unlikely that professional sports franchises in San Francisco and many other U.S. cities that appreciate diversity and acceptance will stop anytime soon, no matter what some closed-minded people think.
The post Mike Krukow on Giants players protesting Pride Night: ‘What makes San Francisco so great is the acceptance of others’ appeared first on Awful Announcing.
Continue reading...
