The MLB found itself in a controversy in June, which is widely acknowledged as “Pride Month” across the United States. The Texas Rangers refused to participate in “Pride Night” festivities the same way most MLB teams did in June, electing instead to host “Faith and Family Night,” The San Francisco Giants also sparked debate online after the ballclub had several players write bible verses on the club’s “Pride Night” hats.
Former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who is in his first year of retirement after a storied MLB career, did the same thing on June 15 of 2025. The three-time Cy Young winner recently sat down with Lara Trump and described his intentions with writing the verse on his cap.
“It wasn’t meant to discriminate or marginalize anybody,” Kershaw told Trump. “The rainbow means a lot of different things to different people⦠for me, the rainbow represents God’s covenant with his people. That’s what I wanted to represent.
Kershaw: It wasn’t meant to discriminate or marginalize anybody. The rainbow means a lot of different things to different people… for me, the rainbow represents God’s covenant with his people. That’s what I wanted to represent. I thought it was the best way to do that in a… pic.twitter.com/6eZDpvXXNj
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 26, 2026
“As a man of faith, as a man that believes in Jesus that’s what the rainbow means to me. I thought that was the best way to do that in a somewhat difficult situation… it wasn’t an easy decision, but I still stand by it, I think it was the right thing to do.”
The verse Kershaw wrote reads, “God places the rainbow in the clouds as the sign of His covenant with Noah, promising never to flood the earth and destroy all life again.”
Fans on social media weren’t all too thrilled with Kershaw’s explanation.
“Just say ‘I don’t like gay people and I don’t want them to have even one day out of the calendar year.’ I’m sure Dodger fans love what he did for their team on the field but please understand it’s completely valid to call his opinion stupid and dumb bc that’s what it is,” one fan posted on X.
“You were discriminating. It wasn’t faith and family. You want us to believe you have rainbows in your locker? God doesn’t like liars,” someone else added.
“I’m a huge (Dodgers) fan from Los Angeles and loved this guy forever. Now it’s very apparent that he’s not only a gay hating bitch but also a disgusting MAGAT all I can see now is all those playoffs failures,” another person wrote.
Whatever any player’s true intentions were for writing the verse on the Pride Night caps, it begs the question: Why does this only occur on Pride Night?
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.