“Pride Month” and related celebrations remain a debacle for baseball teams nationally, with a revolt that was in many ways sparked by three pitchers for the San Francisco Giants writing Bible verses on the “Pride Night” hats they were forced to wear and incurring the MLB’s wrath for it, continuing on and even leading to the cancellation of a game.
Such occurred in Pennsylvania, where the appropriately-named “York Revolution” baseball team declined to play its Pride Night game on Thursday, June 18, as the team’s players revolted against the concept and refused to wear uniforms for the game that featured a rainbow design–specifically, rainbow sleeves–according to team officials.
The team had to cancel the game, officials revealed in a statement posted to Facebook, because so many of the players refused to wear the jerseys. “It is with great disappointment and that the York Revolution have issued important changes to our 11th Annual Pride Night on Thursday, June 18th. Most significantly, the scheduled game between York and Southern Maryland will not be played and Pride will still be hosted as a free admission event. Everyone’s tickets for the game on Thursday will be treated as a rainout that can be redeemed for any future game,” the team announced.
Describing the player revolt and why that led to cancelling the game, the team then said, “This decision was not reached lightly. Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game.”
It was President and GM Ben Shipley who provided more details on what had happened, speaking about it to NBC News. According to him, his team manager informed him that only nine out of 28 players were willing to play in the Pride-themed uniforms. Though he didn’t state as much outright, that made it essentially impossible for the team to play, and was a large enough problem that the “offensive” parties couldn’t just be fired.
“I’m disappointed that we’re at this point, and I recognize the players’ plight and their unwillingness to cross their line. I also think tolerance is not acceptance,” Shipley told NBC News. He added, “I was just asking for tolerance from the team, and they were unwilling to navigate that with me.”
In any case, the statement picked up by trying to curry favor with the Pride-obsessed community, saying, “As a result, and out of respect for the Pride Community and the York community as a whole, the York Revolution has decided that the game on Thursday, June 18 will be forfeited and that Pride Night will continue on as the feature element of the evening at WellSpan Park.”
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Similarly, it added, on that point, in what came across as begging the Pride-enthusiast types to not try to “cancel” it, “We feel that this is the best way to stay consistent with our long-standing partnerships with the Rainbow Rose Center, JLS Automation and the long list of allies that have always been key partners of the York Revolution’s success in York, Pennsylvania.”
Still not done, it noted that the players were acting in a way inconsistent with what the team wanted and that it is donating to a Pride cause to try and make up for the matter, saying, “To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York. As a small token of our regret for the last-minute change of plans and support for our LGBTQIA+ representing partners we are making a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Rose Center to support and further their work in making sure the York community is as inclusive as we strive to make WellSpan Park in York, Pennsylvania.”
Concluding, it noted, “Please join us for a free and fun celebration of recognition and inclusion on June 18 starting at 5:30 at WellSpan Park. The event will end at 9:00 and will have limited concessions open. We will enjoy community, music and batting practice on the field. The York Revolution will return to the field at home on Friday, June 19th. Tickets from Thursday’s June 18 game may be exchanged for tickets to any remaining 2026 regular season home game (subject to availability).”
If you are interested in the American Revolution, check out our history shows channel, The Old World Show, where we have been focusing on some of the greatest men who led the Revolution and what they did, such as this story of Richard Henry Lee and the Westmoreland Resolves, which were one of the major steps toward the Revolution: