After Major League Baseball (MLB) warned three San Francisco Giants players for wearing Bible verses on their caps during the team’s LGBTQ+ “Pride Night” game on Friday, comedian Rob Schneider offered to pay the fines of any players who defy the Bible ban.
“I will pay the fines for any @MLB Christian player who wears a Bible verse on their uniform. @MLB is ANTI-CHRISTIAN,” Schneider declared Tuesday in a social media post.
Schneider was reacting to a Sports Illustrated story reporting on the league’s rebuke:
“Three Giants pitchers were issued a warning from Major League Baseball after they appeared in Friday’s game against the Cubs with Bible verses written on their Pride Night caps. The league notified the players that similar behavior would not be tolerated in the future.
“Right-handed pitcher Landen Roupp started Friday’s game on the mound. Etched on his cap throughout the game was ‘Gen 9:12-16’ in white lettering. The writing was a reference to the Bible verse Genesis 9:12-16.”
Two San Francisco relief pitchers, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker, also wore Bible verses on their caps.
The next day, the Giants issued a statement apologizing to the LGBTQ+ community because the Bible verses angered them:
"We understand that the choices by individual players have caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that.”
“The writing on the cap violates our rules and consistent with normal practice we have warned the players about future violations,” MLB said in its original statement, according to an Associated Press report.
It's not just the Bible - Major League Baseball also does not tolerate messages supporting mothers, fathers and other family members, the league declared in a follow-up statement Tuesday:
“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.”
