A Pennsylvania independent professional baseball team forfeited its Pride Night game Thursday after several players refused to wear rainbow-sleeved jerseys, with the organization blasting its own athletes in a pointed public statement.
The York Revolution, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball based in York, Pennsylvania, announced Wednesday evening that its scheduled Thursday game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs would not be played.
“This decision was not reached lightly,” the team said in its statement, adding that “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.”
The team did not soften its criticism of the dissenting players.
“To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York,” the statement read. The organization described itself as “deeply troubled and profoundly disappointed by the decisions of these few players.”
The jerseys in question, featuring rainbow sleeves, were to have been worn during the team’s 11th annual Pride Night. Rather than cancel the evening entirely, the Revolution elected to forfeit the contest and proceed with the celebration as a free, fan-friendly event at WellSpan Park beginning at 5:30 p.m.
To mark its regret over the last-minute disruption, the club announced a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Rose Center, a local LGBTQ nonprofit. Ticketholders were offered exchanges for any remaining 2026 regular-season home game, subject to availability.
The Rainbow Rose Center said in a statement that it was “disappointed” in how events unfolded but expressed gratitude to the Revolution for ensuring Pride Night would still take place, calling the annual event “a celebration of visibility, belonging, and community.”
The team did not identify which players refused to wear the jerseys, nor did it say whether disciplinary action was forthcoming.
The York Revolution are back-to-back Atlantic League champions, having won titles in both 2024 and 2025, and currently sit in the North Division standings. The roster includes veteran left-handed pitcher Joely Rodriguez, who appeared in seven Major League seasons with the Phillies, Rangers, Yankees, Mets and Red Sox before signing with York this spring.
The forfeit came less than a week after a separate religious-expression controversy swept through professional baseball. During the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night on June 12, starting pitcher Landen Roupp and relievers J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker took the field with Bible verses written on their rainbow-themed caps, while reliever Sam Hentges wore the team’s standard cap altogether.
Major League Baseball subsequently warned the players that writing on caps violates league uniform rules.
“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney said in a statement.
The York Revolution will return to the field Friday for a Juneteenth Celebration at WellSpan Park.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times' AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times' original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.