A visitor from England asks of the Texas Rangers, ‘Are they homophobic?’
Alex Broom and Daniel Bennett are friends from Great Britain who on Thursday watched their first ever Major League Baseball game when the Texas Rangers hosted the Minnesota Twins on “Faith and Family Night,” and they had a lot of questions.
The 20-somethings were in town to watch England’s World Cup match the previous day at Arlington Stadium. Familiar with cricket, they had no idea what was happening during the baseball game.
As much as they enjoyed the previous day’s game, and raved about that facility, they asked the following at the Rangers’ game against the Twins:
1. What is the penalty for a foul ball?
2. Why is there another baseball stadium right across the street from this one?
3. How are there so many people here in the middle of the day; don’t they have jobs?
4. The (Rangers) don’t have a Pride Night? Why not? Are they homophobic?
It’s June, which means the Rangers make their annual return to the headlines as the only team in Major League Baseball not to host a Pride Night.
(FWIW: These lads said Pride Night-themes exist in pro football overseas, usually with players wearing an arm band; an increasing number of Muslim players do not participate.)
These two unknowingly were in town for the Rangers’ “Faith and Family Night” on Thursday. Would have been better had the Rangers waited for this one ‘til Aug. 3, when they play the San Francisco Giants.
This promotion makes a lot of their fans happy, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who took a break on his Twitter feed from licking the toes of the president to praise the Rangers.
“Meanwhile, MLB just warned Giants pitchers for writing Bible verses on their own caps. In Texas, we don’t punish people for living out their faith. We protect that right,” Abbott wrote in a statement that sounded like he bounced it off Attorney General Ken Paxton before publishing it.
Scrap all of it. No more Pride Night. No Faith and Family Night. Let MLB players wear a Bible verse on their hats, or a rainbow path. Or both.
“Pride Night” started as a kind, inclusionary gesture to a large group of people who too often are diminished, mocked, ridiculed and misunderstood. It has morphed into yet another line of division and a point of exclusion.
As long as Ray Davis is the primary owner, don’t expect the Rangers to host a Pride Night; it’s his team, and he clearly doesn’t mind if it puts his franchise in a bad light to some all over the nation for a few weeks every June.
Under Davis, this is who the Rangers are: they’re the franchise that proudly displays a controversial statue of a Texas Rangers lawman in the left field plaza. As evidenced by the people waiting in line to have their picture taken with the statue on Thursday, a lot of fans like the Rangers under Ray Davis.
If you don’t, don’t go.
The Rangers’ Faith and Family Night
Full disclosure: When Rangers fans walked into Globe Life Mall on Thursday they were not met by a flock of people who just needed a few minutes of their time before they load up on nachos and a 24 oz. can of Shiner. They weren’t handed any literature. No open boxes of free Bibles.
There were no sermons. There was no “Baptism by the Bullpen” promotion.
When fans walked into Globe Life Mall, they were handed a free sleeveless replica jersey for former Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, who happens to be Jewish.
The walkup music for players was not “Amazing Grace,” or “Oh Happy Day.”
Other than some members of the team talking about their faith to fans after the 9-3 loss to the Twins, “Faith and Family Night” sounds more than it actually is. The Rangers have done this sort of thing before, and it was a big hit years ago when outfielder Josh Hamilton was the featured speaker.
The only reason the Faith and Family night received any attention is because the team remains rooted in not having anything related to “pride,” thus creating bad optics.
Rangers should follow manager Skip Schumaker’s lead on this one
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker has a few tattoos on his arm, but he will be the first one to tell you that he will attend a Bible study, but never lead it.
Before the game on Thursday, he said he was not raised in a home where faith was a priority. It was not until he was in college when his coach asked him to attend a service, did faith enter his life.
“As far as my position, I don’t push it on anyone. That’s not what I am,” he said. “I try to live my life in a way where I have values, and when people ask, I will tell them about it, but I am not a guy who is going to push anything.”
No, the Rangers aren’t homophobic, but the question has merit when you host a “Faith and Family Night” and not a “Pride Night.”
