York Revolution canceled their Pride Night game scheduled for June 18th after a majority of their players refused to wear Pride-themed uniforms.
The minor league baseball team was scheduled to host the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs as part of its 11th annual Pride Night celebration, during which players were expected to wear rainbow-sleeved jerseys.
But Ben Shipley, president and general manager of York Revolution, said: NBC News Of the minimum roster of 28 players required to form a team, less than nine players chose to wear rainbow uniforms. This refusal led to a team meeting, but Coach Shipley was unable to convince the opposing players to wear jerseys with rainbow decorations.
Coach Shipley said, “It’s unfortunate that this situation has arisen. I understand the plight of the players and their unwillingness to cross the line.” “I also don’t think tolerance is acceptance. I just asked for tolerance from the team and they weren’t willing to go through it with me.”
As a result, the team decided to forfeit the match.
The revolution then statement He said the decision was “not taken lightly” but insisted the spirit of Pride Night would have been undermined if players had been forced to wear rainbow-colored uniforms.
“Unfortunately, several players refused to wear their Pride Knight jerseys as scheduled, and the club decided that hosting the event was more important than forcing the players to play in uncomfortable jerseys,” the team said in a statement.
“As a result, and out of respect for the Pride community and the entire York community, York Revolution has decided to forfeit the match on Thursday, June 18th and continue Pride Night as the featured element of the night at Welspun Park.”
The Revolution and Blue Club are both members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, and their teams are not affiliated with any Major League Baseball club. In Major League Baseball, 29 of the 30 teams, excluding the Texas Rangers, hold Pride Night celebrations.
Shipley told NBC News that the controversy marks a change from last year, when just seven players refused to wear Pride Knight uniforms and the game proceeded without incident.
“We were still playing the game,” Shipley said. “We didn’t make a fuss about it.”
Other Pride Night activities such as music, fan batting practice, stadium tours, and tables hosted by local vendors and community organizations went on as scheduled, as Welspun Park was already promoting the Pride Night festival and the team wanted to honor its commitments to event sponsors. The ballpark remained open from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., but limited concessions were available.
The team also said fans who purchased tickets to attend the game but do not wish to participate in the Pride festivities can exchange them for tickets to any remaining 2026 regular season home games.
Following the last-minute forfeiture, the team announced it would donate $10,000 to the Rainbow Rose Center, a local LGBTQ community center, to support efforts to make the Greater York region more inclusive.
The team criticized the players for refusing to participate.
“Let us be clear: the players’ recent actions are completely inconsistent with our vision of being the most welcoming place in York,” the team said.
The stripping comes amid a broader debate over pride-themed uniforms in professional baseball. Earlier this month, three San Francisco Giants players drew criticism for altering their Pride Knight caps to quote Bible verses related to the importance of rainbows in Christianity.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
