Clayton Kershaw's cap

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12 hours ago

A bit of a confession: I have generally taken Pride Night off for the last two years. Partly because I was still annoyed at the team's collective cowardice and Clayton Kershaw's tantrum, which was corroborated in his biography, The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness by Andy McCullough.
If I am being totally honest, this play broke me a little bit:
I am also blacked out as I once again live in the San Francisco Giants' broadcast zone. However, MLB.tv is offering supplements to MLB.tv packages to add 'home team' broadcasts that would normally be blacked out. I have barely any interest in watching the San Francisco Giants play the Dodgers under normal circumstances — fat chance I'll pay extra for the 'privilege.'
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Pride Night 2025 came and went, and the Dodgers got beaten with little fanfare...until my news alert went off.
Symbols and scripture
Clayton Kershaw altered his Pride Night cap on Friday night with scripture, which was innocuous enough at first glance. However, Kershaw wrote 'Gen. 9:12-16,' on his cap, which reads as follows:
12 And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.'
Reaffirming God's covenant not to flood the earth again is fairly innocuous at face value. The problem, as it were, is best described thusly: the verse has been frequently used by homophobic Christians to denounce the LGBT community as their appropriation of the rainbow is allegedly blasphemous.
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Apart from a flash of anger, my reaction was confusion. I wondered if the Dodgers had somehow decided to give another award to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and if we had all missed it (we had not).
Positive reactions to what Kershaw did were trumpeted on Fox News. Negative reactions, like the one posted below, were also pretty easy to find.
In 2023, I argued that Kershaw was mistaken in his criticism during Pride Night but not a homophobe.
I have seen the argument that Kershaw is a homophobe sprout online from those who are either willfully missing the point or do not understand emotional nuance. It is without dispute that Kershaw, through his charities, has done considerable humanitarian work overseas for underserved communities.
During his interview with the Times, Kershaw stated that he publicly disagreed that the Dodgers are giving an honor to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Kershaw stated that he pushed the Dodgers to bring back Christian Faith and Family Day as a response to the Dodgers' handling of the Sisters' situation...
...Now, based on perception and the timing of what has happened, one could credibly argue that the Dodgers have given Kershaw a quasi-veto about the event. If one were to be uncharitable, as some outlets have been, one could argue that Kershaw is trying to 'both sides' this issue. I do not agree with Kershaw's disagreement, but that aspect is not my biggest gripe.
Kershaw famously said his complaints during Pride Night 2023 were not related to the LGBT community but directed at the aforementioned Sisters:
'This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or pride or anything like that,' Kershaw said. 'This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion, that I don't agree with. ... For us, we felt like the best thing to do in response was, instead of maybe making a statement condemning or anything like that, would be just to instead try to show what we do support, as opposed to maybe what we don't,' Kershaw said. 'And that was Jesus. So to make Christian Faith Day our response is what we felt like was the best decision.'
On pages 345 and 346 of his biography, Kershaw further addressed the controversy to biographer Andy McCulloch:
'I put a lot of thought into it, and talked to a lot of different people...I just came to the conclusion that the Dodgers really put us in a horrible position. It's not an LGBT issue. It's just, like, [the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are] pretty rough. And I'm all for funny, and satire, but that goes way beyond it. So I did feel like I needed to say something...
'I'm a sinful person, just like everyone else...It's not for me to condemn or judge other people. But there's no way to say that without people just cancelling you. So you treat everybody the same, and do the best I can to love other people as well as I can...'
...'Sometimes I feel like an imposter when it comes to my faith, because baseball has given [me] a huge platform, right? Talk about whatever you want. And Jesus, ultimately, is what I choose to talk about. And I think that [talking about Jesus] is what God wants me to do with my life, is use that platform. But sometimes when you don't feel the Holy Spirit, or I don't feel that [presence], you feel like you're just putting yourself out there without the conviction of doing it.'
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McCullough later wrote that Kershaw's inner turmoil was likely due to common existential crises that arise with middle age. Kershaw has not provided any context for his gesture during this year's Pride Night.
I wondered why Kershaw didn't just wait until Faith and Family Night for his gesture, when I looked and realized that it was not on the schedule this year. Both Faith and Family Night and Jewish Heritage Night are absent from this year's scheduled promotional events at Dodger Stadium. I have no idea why, as new additions like One Piece Night are now on the schedule instead.
Pride Night remains a bona fide hit in the Los Angeles community.
Barring a change in the schedule, Friday night might be Kershaw's one bite at the apple on the issue in 2025. As much as one would expect me to call out Kershaw in this situation, I think I will take my cue from one of our resident moderators, David Young, as to what I wish Kershaw had written on his cap:
GAL 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. Emphasis mine, and King James Version (1611) translation used especially for the fundies. The actual Christian message is one of inclusivity! (2/2)
— David Young #Vin (@davidyoungtbla.bsky.social) 2025-06-14T17:08:12.758Z
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I hope that Kershaw's heart has not hardened towards the LGBT community. If it has, there is one team that still refuses to engage with LGBT Pride in any way: his hometown Texas Rangers.
I was present when Kershaw proudly declared that he would be a Dodger for life. I would like to believe he remains here if this year is not his final campaign, but only time will tell. But all Angelinos are welcome at Dodger Stadium, be they Christian, LGBT, or otherwise.
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