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Do you know what the most pathetic thing about the four Giants’ pitchers who actively refused to take part in the Pride Day celebration in San Francisco this weekend is? How cowardly they all were in defending their choice. These are weak men who believe they are strong, men with no room in their hearts or minds for an entire community — for anything but their own myopia.
Starting pitcher Landen Roupp fumbled his way through some boilerplate explanations about why he and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on their Pride Day hats, saying, “It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy. That’s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I’m thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want … and express what we want.”
Roup also took the incredible route of saying that “There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for and what I stand in. I believe in God, and that’s me,” as if no one celebrating Pride also believes in God — maybe not the one you and your fellow bigots have dreamed up in your head, Landen — and also suggested that anyone looking to criticize him maybe instead “read the Bible.” Which, again, this guy can’t even say with his whole chest why he wrote this verse on his hat, so he might want to take his own advice there. What a worm.
Tim Jackson, almost a year ago to the day, covered the problem with the specific verse cited on these Pride Hats, so let me borrow that for you today:
It’s essential when processing that the passage is often cited by conservative Christian movements that want to take back the rainbow, emphasizing it as a symbol of God’s promise. What, exactly, is promised is less relevant than the notion of ownership. They consider it a divine symbol, shared by those touched by the divine nature, and out of reach to those who aren’t. The meaning of the symbol to those within the LGBTQ community, one of acceptance and inclusion, is contorted into an ill-fitting hat in the eye of the Lord. The message is clear: These groups want to undo the LGBTQ community by filtering its own language through what they deem to be a holier, more pleasant lens.
Writing Gen: 9:12-16 on your Pride hat is saying, “the rainbow does not belong to you, it belongs to me.” And the reason it does not “belong” to the queer community, in the eyes of these Christians, is because they are bigots. That’s the beginning and end of it. And they of course cite freedom of speech, as if this is a government issue, but it’s not that; and more importantly, even if it were, everyone still gets to think you’re a big piece of shit for writing it and thinking it. Which you all are, by the way.
How did the rest of the Giants’ organization respond to this? Well, manager Tony Vitello also spewed some drivel after being asked if there were discussions with the pitchers about the hats and Bible verses before the game.
“Not really. I mean, just kind of a general knowledge of the individuals have the freedom to do what they think is best,” Vitello said. “But I do think it’s been apparent from day one, actually, even some of the exhibition games, it’s pretty impressive how the Giants, as an organization, try and embrace the entire community. … We don’t want to be divided, but you can divide it up into certain sections, if you know what I mean. And there’s a pretty good trade-off. I mean, obviously, the success hasn’t been what I want it to be, but even I feel it. The way they give back and embrace the team is different. … The crowds are bigger in numbers. There’s a unique vibe to each night when there is a community recognized. So the back and forth there is good, and as always, even if our record was 20 games better than it was, you always want to give back more.”
Thanks, Tony, you’re a real leader of men there with the deflections of how great the organization that is actively failing these “sections” are for what they have done in the past. At least he said anything, though: president of baseball operations, Buster Posey, hasn’t spoken up either in defense or against his players here. The only one who has actually even attempted to stand against any Giants players in the organization is the longest-tenured player on it, Logan Webb.
Logan Webb, the longest-tenured Giant and one of the team’s most respected team leaders, grew up in the Sacramento area and has friends from different backgrounds throughout the clubhouse. He said, “You can’t force anybody. They’re grown-ups, they can make their own decisions.”
That’s obviously grading on a curve.
From that same Athletic piece with the above Vitello quote came word that MLB had issued a warning to the Giants about the hats: “The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.” Oh, good, a warning. That’ll show ‘em. There should have been a warning when Clayton Kershaw pulled this stunt before, and anyone following in his footsteps should have actually gotten in trouble. Of course, with the way right-wingers respond to even the gentlest reproach, a warning might as well be attempted murder, too.
One day a year. That’s all MLB asks of these dorks, and neither some players — nor MLB itself — can even manage that much without embarrassment.
Ann Killion has more on this whole story over at the San Francisco Chronicle, on how these Giants’ pitchers alienated fans. It’s absolutely worth your time, unlike the toothless statements of these bozos.
And here’s one more from me, as last week for Baseball Prospectus I responded to Rob Manfred saying that the luxury tax system was a failure at maintaining competitive balance, which simply isn’t true unless you look at it through a very narrow lens.
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