Baseball fans agitated by Rob Manfred and MLB trying to limit the on-field celebration of Pride Night: "What about Military Appreciation Days?"
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed the media following Thursday's owner meeting in New York. He was asked many questions ranging from the Oakland Athletics situation to the league's stance on Pride Night.
When discussing Pride Night, Manfred mentioned that it is up to the individual teams to decide when to host Pride Night. He also mentioned that he told teams that putting a Pride logo on uniforms, hats, or bases is not a good idea. Manfred states this is only to protect the players who may not hold the same values.
Manfred, on leaving Pride nights up to teams versus standardizing across the league:
“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players:
Last season, the Tampa Bay Rays made headlines when a few players refused to wear the team's themed Pride jersey. It looks like Manfred is hoping to avoid the same faith this season.
Given Manfred's push to limit the on-field celebration, look for stadiums with LGTBQ-related artwork on the walls, many teams are giving away a rainbow-inspired jersey to the first couple thousand fans in attendance.
"This is inconsistent. What about Military Appreciation Days with camo hats or Independence Day w/ American flag hats?" - one fan tweeted.
This is inconsistent. What about military appreciation days with camo hats or Independence Day w/ American flag hats? twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
"Cowards" - another fan tweeted.
Cowards twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
@chelsea_janes Yet another example of how utterly broken and bankrupt a person Manfred is
rob manfred speedrunning the "most loathsome sports commissioner" achievement on expert mode twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
MLB fans weren't happy with Rob Manfred's comments. They don't see how teams are forced to appreciate Independence Day or Military Appreciation games but not Pride Night.
MLB forces players from Latin America wear U.S. military hats and uniforms twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
Rob Manfred is a coddled, cowardly man. Below replacement level adult twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
the commissioner’s job is to defend the owners’ interests. that’s it.
the job went from protecting the integrity of the game to protecting the bottom line about 30 years ago
everything Manfred does is for the owners, not the players twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
What a curious use of “protect the players” to say the least. twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
does he think a pride patch is like a magical rune that turns you gay twitter.com/chelsea_janes/…
Fans don't see it as much of a celebration if Manfred is trying to limit the on-field portion of the celebration. Most watching the games on television won't even notice their team is celebrating Pride Night.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is not having a good day on the microphone
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has had quite the day on Thursday. Not only has he made headlines with his comments regarding Pride Night, but he also made headlines criticizing the Oakland Athletics fanbase.
Manfred pointed the blame on the city, saying there was no plan from the city to make a new stadium, which was untrue. The city and the team stopped talking in April after it was leaked that the team would be moving to Las Vegas.
Manfred also criticized the fanbase and their reverse boycott on Tuesday. He poked fun at the crowd mentioning that it was good to see an average size crowd at the Coliseum.
Manfred's comments on Thursday show why he's not the most popular guy in the league. As somebody who controls an entire league, you must be careful with what you say.