MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has defended the league’s policy over Pride celebrations in a letter to Republican senator Josh Hawley.

Most of MLB’s 30 teams celebrate Pride month with a themed game to acknowledge the LGBTQ community and its baseball fans. During a 12 June game against the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on their hats, which featured the Giants’ logo in rainbow colors, while pitcher Sam Hentges chose not to wear the themed cap at all.

MLB later said in a statement that writing on hats “violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.”

Hawley wrote a letter to Manfred in which he expressed “grave concern” over the warning to the players. Hawley called the warning “dubious” because he feels MLB is already promoting a political viewpoint by having Pride-themed uniforms. Assistant US attorney general Harmeet Dhillon also wrote a letter to Manfred saying the justice department had referred the league to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate whether the discipline amounts to religious discrimination.

But in Manfred’s response to Hawley, the commissioner said the Giants failed to properly explain to players that they were did not have to wear Pride-themed clothing.

Manfred noted that because some players aren’t comfortable wearing Pride-themed uniforms or caps, the league adopted a policy in 2023 of prohibiting clubs from using special uniforms, caps or equipment in their celebration days except under very narrow circumstances, such as special patches honoring deceased members of the baseball community.

That same year, the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who play in cities with large LGBTQ+ communities, were granted an exemption from the new rule and were permitted use of pride emblems on caps and uniforms on Pride Night “provided that no players or uniformed staff would be required to wear them, and that the team would speak to the players to make sure they were comfortable with the apparel.”

In his letter to Hawley, Manfred wrote: “Unfortunately, this year the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear. Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result.

“The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with biblical references for the entire game. After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation – unfortunately, it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication. The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.”