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Three-time Team USA Olympic softball gold medalist Leah Amico says she thinks she would have written a Bible verse on a Pride Night cap if she had been forced to wear one in a game.
“I think I would,” Amico told Pakinomist Digital when asked if she would write a Bible verse on the cap.
“I guess in some ways I feel like it would be like saying everybody should have a cross on their jersey, but I would never expect that with my teammates who don’t believe the same,” she added of the players who were to wear the Pride-themed caps.
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Softball player Leah O’Brien-Amico poses for a portrait during the USOC Media Summit at the Marriott Marquis in New York, NY on May 15, 2004. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The comments from Amico, a three-time Olympic gold medalist with USA Softball and a three-time NCAA national champion at Arizona, came after Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps during San Francisco’s June 12 game at Oracle Park.
Roupp wrote “Gen 9:12-16” on his cap, with part of the biblical reference overlapping the rainbow-colored “SF” logo used for the team’s Pride Night uniform. The passage refers to the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant. MLB later issued a warning, saying the issue was not the content of the message, but that writing of any kind on uniforms violates league rules.
Amico said she viewed the players’ decision as a statement of religious belief rather than hostility.
“Obviously, as a fellow Christian, I thought it was a bold statement for them to be able to say, ‘Hey, I have a faith that’s different than the reason I’m being asked to wear this symbol,'” Amico said. “I support that freedom to be able to have religious freedom in a way, to share their values, at a time when athletes are being asked to then participate in something that might go against their value system.”
The Giants’ Pride Night caps were part of a tradition the organization helped pioneer. In 2021, the Giants announced they would become the first MLB team to incorporate Pride colors into on-field uniforms, including a Pride badge and a custom cap with Pride colors in the “SF” logo.
But this year’s event became a flashpoint. MLB said its warning to the Giants players was a “routine verbal warning” and “not disciplinary,” adding that the league has issued similar warnings for uniform messages such as “Father” and “Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom.”
The Giants later said they remained “proud to support Pride Night and the LGBTQ+ community,” while also acknowledging that individual players’ choices had caused “pain and anger” among many LGBTQ+ fans.
Amico said she would encourage the Giants players not to back down from their faith.
“I’m sure they’re probably in a tough situation and they want to be a part of the team and what they’re being asked to do,” Amico said. “But for them, I think I just want to encourage them. At the end of the day, they answer to God above everything else, above an employer, above anyone who pays them and above a coach or a teammate.”
“Our value system is based on the word of God,” she added. “It’s encouraging to see people being bold and saying, ‘We just want to share that this is our point of view and our value system.'”
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS PITCHER WRITE BIBLE VERSE ON HAT FOR DAY OF PRIDE NIGHT
Leah Amico of the United States competes during the preliminary softball game against Italy at the Athens Olympic Softball Stadium on August 14, 2004. The United States defeated Italy 7-0. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Amico said her objection is not to individual athletes or fans expressing support for Pride, but to the expectation that all players on a team wear the same symbol.
“I never wanted them to be put in the position of having to wear something that might symbolize something that they’re not passionate about,” Amico said of teammates who don’t share her Christian faith. “At the end of the day, I think I would literally feel, why is this in sports?”
Amico said she has seen another model in international softball, where some athletes wear rainbow-colored armbands without the entire team being required to do the same.
“There are players who actually wear a wristband that has rainbow colors on it,” Amico said. “It’s not something the whole team wears. I support that, right? Players can go out and represent who they are and what they believe and what they feel. But I just don’t think it’s necessarily right to force a whole team.”
The controversy has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and some San Francisco leaders, while prompting pushback from conservative politicians who argued that MLB’s response raised questions about religious freedom. Vice President JD Vance and Senator Josh Hawley were among those who criticized MLB after the league’s warning.
Amico said Christians in sports can face a difficult balance during Pride month: wanting to be good teammates while also feeling pressure to publicly support something that conflicts with their faith.
“I think it can put them in a difficult situation if they care about the people who might agree, might have that lifestyle,” Amico said. “They probably love them. They should love them if they’re Christians. I had a lot of teammates that lived that lifestyle and I love them. I love them as people. They were my teammates.”
Still, she said, a team is made up of individuals, and sports organizations should allow room for players to differ.
“I’ve always felt strongly that we’re a bunch of individuals on a team,” Amico said. “Maybe how do we find ways to have individual values shared within being part of the team?”
For Amico, the answer is choice: fans and individual players can participate in Pride celebrations, while other athletes must be allowed to wear the standard uniform without being treated as if they are betraying the team.
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San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello lifts starting pitcher Landen Roupp during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on June 12, 2026. (John Hefti/Imagn Images)
“I think maybe a key point in all of this is that the fans are allowed to participate in something like this, but on the field and for the players, so they can have the opportunity to say, ‘Yeah, I prefer to wear my hat with the rainbow logo on it,’ and then other players say, ‘I’m going to wear my everyday hat,'” Amico said.
“I think there just has to be that freedom in that situation,” she added. “Because I think if you have that freedom and it’s okay to be a little different, I think that would go a long way.”
