Straight Giants fan tells team to fire Buster Posey and Tony Vitello after Pride Night fiasco
Longtime SF Giants fan says Pride Night was one of her lowest moments as a supporter — and wants the team to make amends.
Mark
This is part of Outsports’ series of “Dear Giants” letters written by San Francisco Giants fans and sent to the team after their mishandling of this season’s Pride Night, with Bible verses written on Pride caps by three players intending to send an anti-gay message during Pride Night.
Karen Datangel is a longtime San Francisco Giants fan who has been to about 40 games at Oracle Park the last two seasons.
Yet as Karen — a straight woman — has watched the club mishandle the team’s Pride Night debacle, complete with three Christian pitchers defacing the team’s Pride cap, her fandom has taken a hit.
In an ideal world for her — as with so many others — there would be a major leadership change with the team.
“I would be happiest if there was an ownership change and Buster Posey and Tony Vitello were removed or chose to step down from their roles,” Karen told Outsports. “The fact that two of the most public-facing leaders on this team were okay with these shenanigans and refuse to address them appropriately is not acceptable.”
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Related
The Giants betray San Francisco. ‘Dear Giants’ letters won’t stop until they apologize.
Outsports’ ‘Dear Giants’ series has featured devastating letters from fans. It won’t stop until the team apologizes for Pride Night.
Karen wrote a Dear Giants letter to the team and addressed her letter to Giants Chief Diversity Officer Roscoe Mapps, a gay man who ultimately sent a form letter to various Giants fans who had emailed him.
The letter Karen sent to the Giants is below, and you can read more about it on her Substack here.
Dear Giants,
I hope you are well and healthy.
I am a 37-year-old Bay Area native who has been going to San Francisco Giants games since 2004. I’ve also had the privilege of working with the Giants’ now-defunct @CafeSFG social media team during the 2016 and 2017 seasons along with the 2018 Fanfest.
I was an early adopter of The 415 membership program (and previously tried the Ballpark Pass before that!) but decided earlier this year not to renew my membership.
It makes me sad to say that the organization is giving me more and more reasons to stand by that decision.
The city of San Francisco has always been a haven for the LGBTQ+ community and has a rich history that has impacted the overall community.
Although I am not part of the community myself, I consider myself an ally. I’ve taken pride in the city being a model for LGBTQ+ celebrations and seeing that reflected in my favorite baseball team. Pride Day/Night has always been one of my favorite events during the season (although I probably last went in 2024). I also love that the Giants were the first team in MLB to bring HIV/AIDS awareness to the baseball world with Until There’s a Cure Day in 1994.
Friday night was one of the lowest points I felt as a Giants fan, and it didn’t even have to do with the team’s already-horrid performance. Learning that Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker, and Ryan Walker defaced their Pride caps with Bible verses and that Sam Hentges chose not to wear the cap at all was extremely disheartening.
I understand that these particular players may have a background that leans more conservative. I also understand that there were a couple of incidents in the past where players also chose not to wear the designated Pride gear, or write Bible verses inside their caps.
In today’s political climate, I believe that we need Pride more than ever, especially in a city that’s supposed to lead in these efforts. What makes this year’s incident different is that multiple people chose to express their lack of moral support in very outward ways.
Those four men could have expressed their faith all the other days of the season in addition to doing so on Pride Night. Instead, they chose to do it only on a specific day to purposely diminish a marginalized community and bring the attention to themselves.
To me, it is akin to one White person talking about how proud they are to be White during Black History Month, or someone talking about the importance of prostate cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. These actions were divisive and I am disappointed that Tony Vitello and other people in the organization have let this slide.
This isn’t even the only issue I have with the organization from a DEIB standpoint.
Since the Giants last made the playoffs in 2021, it seems that other issues have shown that the organization is no longer welcoming to minority communities, as shown in part-owner Charles Johnson’s continuing donations to extremist candidates, the firing of Renel Brooks-Moon, the hiring of Glen Kuiper, the recent sponsorship by anti-LGBTQ+ corporation Chik-fil-A, and the recent purchase of a minority ownership stake by Joshua Kushner.
The Giants can hire as many respectable figures like Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy as they want, but it will never cover up all the stink I’ve sniffed for a while now.
I don’t know what is realistically possible, but a few solutions I can think of:
- More leadership / sensitivity training for the four players, Tony Vitello, and basically everyone in the org (but especially those five)
- Work with MLB to fine Roupp, Brubaker, and Walker for defacing a team uniform during a game
- Partner with local LGBTQ+ organizations, donate to them, and have players and key org members meet with them for connection, networking, exchange of ideas, and education
Some potential organizations I’d like to see the Giants partner with in the future:
I’m sure your job is very challenging, and I thank you for all you and your colleagues have done in the past. I hope you continue to listen to the voices of the community and strive for progress. This organization should be moving one step forward, not five steps back at a time. I’m happy to collaborate.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider.
Sincerely,
Karen Datangel
If you are a longtime San Francisco Giants fan and sent a letter to the team expressing thoughts about their Pride Night debacle, DM us on social media or email us at team@outsports.com.
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