Mike Krukow eloquently explains why SF Giants players missed the mark with Pride protest

Many SF Giants fans were hurt and upset last Friday when several pitchers, Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker, Sam Hentges, and Ryan Walker, chose to protest the team’s Pride Night by either writing a Bible verse on the team’s rainbow-logo hat celebrating Pride or, in the case of Hentges, refusing to wear the hat at all.

Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow weighed in on the controversy recently and shared his thoughts on the matter. Ann Killion quoted Krukow in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article as saying:

“I think that you have the right as a player to believe and say whatever you want. But you have to take a broader look at the city you’re playing in. What makes San Francisco so great is the acceptance of others — ethnicities, opinions, cultures — and that extends to the gay community. I would just hope they would understand the demographic of San Francisco and respect people for who they are. What you do to your uniform, that has weight to it. You can offend people. And why would you do that?"

This statement means a lot coming from Krukow. He is one of the most respected and beloved voices among Giants fans so his words carry a lot of weight. Krukow's son Wes is gay so he also has a personal stake in this. He obviously didn’t completely go after any of the pitchers for their decision but he pointed out how their decision to do that has ramifications and can hurt people.

Maybe the pitchers don’t care. That’s their right. If they can go to sleep at night knowing that their decision to protest the team’s Pride Night upset people and made fans in the LGBTQ community feel less supported by their favorite team then good for them.

But it’s a great irony that those who applaud what those pitchers decided to do on Friday are many of the same people who lost their minds when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016 to protest injustice.

MLB cracks down on Giants pitchers protesting Pride

Krukow may not change many minds as people are often very locked into their views especially when it comes to such politicized issues. Yet, one hopes his comments at least make fans who were upset by what happened on Saturday feel a little better knowing not everyone associated with the team is okay with what happened.

MLB also decided to take action and issued a warning to the Giants pitchers by issuing a statement stating that writing on hats violates the league's rules so they are trying to crack down on this likely because they know it’s not great P.R. 

While what those pitchers did cannot be undone, at least other voices like Krukow are stepping up to the plate to remind Giants fans in the LGBTQ community that they are not alone.

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