SF Giants’ CEO Larry Baer addresses team’s Pride Night controversy

San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer addressed the team's Pride Night controversy on KNBR 680, acknowledging the organization could have handled the situation better and reaffirming the team's commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion. Baer also expressed full support for president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who had declined to answer questions about the controversy two days earlier.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after president of baseball operations Buster Posey declined to field questions https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/23/san-francisco-giants-buster-posey-pride-hat-lgbtqia-doj-hawley-manfred/ about the team’s Pride Night controversy https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/12/landen-roupp-pride-hat-sf-giants-bible-verse-jt-brubaker-ryan-walker-sam-hentges/ , Giants president and CEO Larry Baer went on KNBR 680 on Thursday morning and became the first prominent member of the organization to address the matter. Posey was originally slated to appear https://x.com/KNBR/status/2069892738213159414 on KNBR 680 on Thursday morning, per a social media post by the station, but Baer took Posey’s place. No explanation was provided as to why the switch was made. “I just wanted to say a couple of things to you and our fans and speak from the heart, really, as somebody who’s been involved with this ownership group from day one,” Baer told Dieter Kurtenbach https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/buster-posey-tony-vitello-kurtenbach-rafael-devers-sf-giants-lgbt-pride/ and John Dickinson. “This ownership group has been really involved in supporting the LGBTQ community. It’s strong and unwavering for over 30 years now, really. … I know we’ve heard from many fans and I know their deep feelings about the events of Pride Night this year. We know it. We’ve heard. We’re listening. “Just some context here, over those 30-plus years, it’s a north star here to create an experience at our ballpark for all fans, starting at Candlestick and Oracle Park. An experience that’s welcoming to all fans. That has not changed. That’s a north star. That will not change. Our park should be a place where everyone feels welcome, respected and valued. I just want to make that really clear. We take pride in being industry leaders in that effort with the LGBTQ community.” Baer went on to reference the Giants’ involvement with the LGBTQIA+ community over the last three decades. He noted that the Giants became the first professional sports team to host an HIV/AIDS awareness game Until There’s a Cure . Baer also mentioned that the Giants are one of two teams, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, that wear special Pride-themed caps during their Pride celebrations. “Yes, we’ve learned a lot in the last 11 days. Yes, we could’ve handled things better this year, for sure. We’re absolutely committed to continuing our conversations with members of the LGBTQ+ community going forward. That’s where we are as an organization. A lot of our community partners that we’ve worked with through those years, decades, know that. I just wanted to deliver that message to the fans and move on and be able to — let’s talk about some other things. Last night https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/24/sf-giants-rookie-victor-bericoto-delivers-walk-off-solo-home-run/ and all.” Along with his opening statement, Baer gave Posey a vote of confidence despite the Giants 33-46 being headed for one of their worst seasons in franchise history. “We have an ownership group that has full faith in Buster and knows Buster has a competitive edge and will find a way to succeed and is putting it together,” Baer said. “Our ownership group … are all behind Buster, 1000% — behind Tony Vitello . “We’ve made some unconventional moves, and I think that’s one of the things that attracted everybody to Buster taking the leadership reins, in that some of these are not conventional. The Tony hire was not conventional. Some of the other things that we have done. The trade for Rafael Devers, etc. So let’s give Buster time to put his program together.” On June 12 https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/12/landen-roupp-pride-hat-sf-giants-bible-verse-jt-brubaker-ryan-walker-sam-hentges/ , four Giants pitchers created controversy after either writing a Bible verse on the team’s Pride Night caps or abstaining from wearing the cap entirely. Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker all wrote verses from the Book of Genesis, while Sam Hentges opted to wear a standard black cap with an orange logo. The story evolved into a national controversy on June 15 when Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley R sent a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred after Roupp, Brubaker and Walker were warned for writing on their caps https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/15/sf-giants-pride-hats-landen-roupp-mlb-warning/ . Hawley demanded that the league answer for what he claimed to be a “pattern of discriminating against Christians within MLB against baseball players who profess their Christian faith.” Along with Hawley’s letter and a social media post from Vice President JD Vance https://x.com/JDVance/status/2066922921046544396?ref src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066934161773126091%7Ctwgr%5Eaf37e2ba4802e98063b541b65cab9b390eaabe44%7Ctwcon%5Es3 &ref url=https%3A%2F%2Fabc7news.com%2Fpost%2Fvice-president-jd-vance-criticizes-giants-pride-night-controversy-trump-won-california-state-sen-scott-wiener-responds%2F19317184%2F , the U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 18 that it launched a civil rights investigation https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/20/sf-giants-players-react-to-department-of-justice-investigation-over-pride-night-hat-warning/ regarding whether MLB violated the religious rights of Roupp, Brubaker and Walker. On Monday, the day before Posey spoke to the media, Manfred penned a response to Hawley in which he effectively threw the Giants under the bus, writing that the team’s communication was “inadequate and not clear.” Posey declined to answer a question about the commissioner’s statement. “Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear the normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result,” Manfred wrote. “The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with the biblical references for the entire game. “After the game concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation — unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication. The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.”