{"id":2617787,"date":"2026-06-23T12:20:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mlb-commissioner-lies-about-leagues-left-wing-activism-in-letter-to-hawley\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:21:23","slug":"mlb-commissioner-lies-about-leagues-left-wing-activism-in-letter-to-hawley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mlb-commissioner-lies-about-leagues-left-wing-activism-in-letter-to-hawley\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Commish Lies About League\u2019s Activism In Letter To Hawley"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmlb-commissioner-lies-about-leagues-left-wing-activism-in-letter-to-hawley%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2617787&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred claims the league is neutral regarding players\u2019 messages on uniforms, but evidence suggests otherwise. The controversy arose after San Francisco Giants players wrote Bible verses on Pride night hats, leading to warnings that critics argue were discriminatory. Manfred defends the league\u2019s enforcement of uniform policies, asserting they are about maintaining cleanliness and avoiding controversy, not about restricting religious expression. However,he admits the warnings were flawed due to interaction issues,not content. This description contradicts the league&#8217;s allowance of Pride-themed logos and messages, which are &#8220;grandfathered&#8221; in, revealing a bias toward left-wing causes. MLB actively supported social justice initiatives, including Black Lives Matter messaging and symbols, further undermining claims of neutrality. Critics argue that selective allowances show MLB favors progressive causes over Christian expression, raising questions about fairness and consistency. Hawley considers the resolution a victory, but in reality, Manfred\u2019s statements indicate the league still restricts religious messages while endorsing certain activist expressions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred wants Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to believe that Major League Baseball is neutral \u2014 but the facts show otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HawleyMO\/status\/2069180415668326784?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">response<\/a> to Hawley\u2019s letter about concerns regarding San Francisco Giants players that were issued warnings after writing Bible verses on their Pride night hats, Manfred claimed the league enforces uniform policy \u201cwithout regard to the substance of the messaging\u201d \u2014 a claim that would be a <em>lot more<\/em> convincing if the league hadn\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >spent years promoting left-wing<\/a> causes.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy began after several Giants players wrote Bible verses on their Pride night hats. The MLB subsequently issued a warning to the players, prompting Hawley to send a letter demanding the MLB answer for the discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Manfred tried to defend the league, arguing that league rules prohibit players from displaying messages on uniforms and equipment and arguing the warnings were related to policy rather than the content of the messages. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy warning the Giants players that they may not include Bible verses on their caps in the future, MLB was not discriminating or chastising those players based on their religious beliefs; rather MLB was enforcing (with only an oral warning) a long-standing, collectively bargained rule that keeps uniforms clean and avoids controversy.\u201d Manfred added the warning was wrong because \u201cit was issued before we became aware of the Giants\u2019 lapse in communication. The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Manfred\u2019s argument isn\u2019t that the Bible verses should have been permitted, it\u2019s that the warning was issued under \u201cwrong\u201d circumstances because the Giants failed to properly inform the players that they could opt out of the gay gear entirely. But that explanation still leaves a glaring problem for Manfred\u2019s neutrality claim. If the league is willing to allow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/these-woke-companies-paying-for-womens-abortions-also-playing-a-role-in-chinas-human-rights-abuse\/\" title=\"These Woke Companies Paying for Women\u2019s Abortions Also Playing a Role in China\u2019s Human Rights Abuse\">pride-themed logos<\/a> and messaging but <em>not<\/em> Christian messaging, then it has already abandoned any semblance of neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, in trying to defend the MLB\u2019s discrimination, Manfred acknowledged that both the Giants and Dodgers have been operating under a \u201cgrandfathered exception\u201d allowing Pride night themed logos and apparels since 2023. That exception undermines the claim that the MLB is merely trying to keep uniforms free of messages.<\/p>\n<p>Pride night is hardly the only example of the MLB being outwardly supportive of left-wing causes.  MLB <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLB\/status\/1286447636564914176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1286447636564914176%7Ctwgr%5Ec5c7219d119802a34cb052e8dfd726460bfcb327%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fnews%2Fmlb-players-social-justice-inclusion-diversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued a tweet<\/a> in 2020 about social justice and offered the players a \u201cBlack Lives Matter batting practice T-shirt, or a T-shirt designed or obtained by a club or its players\u201d while also even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/mlb-players-social-justice-inclusion-diversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">temporarily changing<\/a> its rules by \u201clift[ing] its cleat restrictions for the 2020 season, giving players more freedom to express themselves throughout the year. That includes the ability to use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/guilty-on-all-charges-the-sports-world-reacts-to-the-derek-chauvin-verdict\/\" title=\"Guilty On All Charges: The Sports World Reacts To The Derek Chauvin Verdict\">social justice messages<\/a> and causes.\u201d MLB also created a Black Lives Matter and United for Change patch that could \u201cbe affixed to the player\u2019s sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClubs are invited to stencil on the back of the mound the inverted MLB logo, with either the message \u2018United for Change\u2019 or \u2018BLM,&#8217;\u201d the MLB announced. <\/p>\n<p>All of this was league-sanctioned activism and active promotion of such activism, which is why Manfred\u2019s neutrality claim is so hard to take seriously. If MLB could make exceptions for both Black Lives Matter and Pride night <em>but not<\/em> for Christian players, then they are not neutral.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Hawley touted the response as a win, claiming Manfred \u201cadmits they were wrong to threaten the Giants players over Bible verses and promises never to fine or discipline these players \u2013 or any players for their religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not what Manfred said at all. Manfred simply said the Giants\u2019 failure to communicate the opt-out policy made the warning wrong under the circumstances. But he did <em>not<\/em> suggest that players are free to add Bible verses to their uniforms in the future. In fact, the opposite was implied. According to Manfred\u2019s reasoning, had the players been properly informed of their ability to opt out of the Pride-themed uniforms, a warning for the Bible verses would have been entirely justified.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us back to the same problem: Why does MLB make exceptions for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tulane-university-to-host-event-on-decolonizing-study-abroad\/\" title=\"Tulane University To Host Event On \u2018Decolonizing Study Abroad\u2019\">left-wing activism<\/a> while insisting that the expression of Christian faith is not permissible?<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MLB claims neutrality, but evidence suggests bias<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2617788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-23-at-11.10.24-AM-scaled-e1782227568518-1024x577.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4563,5117,12138],"class_list":["post-2617787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-commissioner","tag-lies","tag-mlb"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-23-at-11.10.24-AM-scaled-e1782227568518-1024x577.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2617787"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2617791,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617787\/revisions\/2617791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2617788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2617787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2617787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2617787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}