We had a doubleheader of sorts in terms of Pride Night shenanigans around Major League Baseball Friday night.
June is quickly coming to an end, so this was a last call, if you will, for teams who hadn’t yet fulfilled their virtue-signaling quota for the year.
Up in New York, the Mets celebrated the firing of their manager by holding their 2026 Pride Night, which came with its own set of problems. But I want to instead focus on the Baltimore Orioles, who went above and beyond for their big night.
The team announced earlier this week that they would have a drag queen in the outfield splashing fans with water. That’s not hyperbole. That’s literally what happened Friday night.
Take a look:
Amazing.
There were also Furries walking around the stadium before the game — people dressed as giant animals walking around like humans — and Pride banners hanging at The Warehouse, where 2,131 Cal Ripken flags used to fly.
Again, they leaned into it. Big time. Allllllll the way in …
Except for one suspicious social media post before the game. The team announced its starting lineup via Twitter (X), and the attached graphic didn’t include an actual player for one of the only times this season.
Instead, it featured the mascot.
You ain’t sneaking that fastball by the fans, Orioles! Nice try. Everyone is on high alert right now. It’s been a brutal month for Major League Baseball, and folks are edgy at the moment.
I don’t blame them.
The San Francisco Giants continue to be an absolute disaster out west. The whole Pride Night controversy started two weeks ago when four players wrote Bible verses on their rainbow hats, and the fallout ever since has been disastrous.
Rob Manfred blames the Giants for not properly communicating. The Giants catered to their LGBTQ fans and pandered their tails off. Senator Josh Hawley got the DOJ involved. Buster Posey looked like he was being held hostage in a press conference earlier this week, and refused to talk about it.
It’s been one giant mess.
But that hasn’t stopped teams from partaking in the month, of course. For those wondering what a normal Orioles starting lineup graphic looks like, here’s a sample:
Best I can tell, the Pride Night graphic was the first one not to feature a player in a month, and that was only because the team chose to do some Star Wars-themed scroll for two nights at the end of May.
Otherwise, just about every single starting lineup graphic this season has included a picture of a player, which is customary around the league. The Orioles aren’t reinventing the wheel by doing that.
They are, however, reinventing it by putting their bird mascot on the starting lineup card for Pride night. I’m quite sure that was not coincidental or accidental. The team didn’t just run out of players to use for the graphic.
Did players simply say no? Did the team decide not to risk it? And, if so, why? Why lean into Pride night at the park with drag queens spraying kids with water and Furries running around, but not on the lineup card?
Don’t go halfway in. No sir. You’re either all the way in, or you’re out.
No dipping your toe in Pride month!
Anyway, here’s some Furries on the way out for those interested:
