During the Padres’ first pennant-winning season in 1984, three pitchers – Eric Show, Dave Dravecky and Mark Thurmond – manned the John Birch Society booth in full uniform at the Del Mar Fair.
The Birch Society was notorious back then for its underlying current of racism and antisemitism. Even in an era when there was no internet, ESPN or social media, the players were stunned by the blowback after the Los Angeles Times did an extensive report about the incident.
The story lasted for weeks and is still a big part of club lore. Sometimes history has a nasty way of repeating itself.
Last month, on June 12, four Giants pitchers – Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker, Sam Hentges and Ryan Walker – evidently didn’t have a clue what tumult they were going to cause on Pride Night in San Francisco when they etched a Bible verse on their caps themed for that game. Hentges simply wore his regular cap, which is the accepted alternative under Major League Baseball rules.
Those rules state that unless the clubs seek dispensation from MLB, writing anything on your uniform or cap is a violation.
“We felt there wasn’t going to be as much kickback on it,” Brubaker told the California Post on June 17. “Players have done it in the past and it didn’t seem like it was blown up that big.”
But the players should have been advised better, either by their manager and coaches or certainly by upper management. Taking any perceived stand against LGBTQ people, especially in San Francisco, is going to have a serious ripple effect.
Pride Controversy Added To Giants’ 2026 Woes
The event was indicative of the Giants’ season. Well past the halfway mark, at 36-50, it’s essentially over. A once proud franchise is trying to dig out of the rubble.
“Yeah, I don’t think anybody thought the season was going to start out like this,” Giants third baseman Matt Chapman told Forbes in the Giants’ losing clubhouse at Chase Field on Tuesday night.
During both the 1984 and 2026 seasons, Padres and Giants management failed to get out in front of the issue. It’s public relations 101: Never turn a two-day story into one that can last for weeks. Giants’ presidents Larry Baer and Buster Posey still haven’t effectively dealt with the controversy.
In San Diego’s case, the Padres were winning and went on to the World Series for the first time in their 56-year history, losing to a Tigers team that was one of the best in history in five games.
For the Giants, it’s just a symptom of their current organizational malaise. They went into action on Friday 20 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the National League West and 10 games in arrears of the third and last NL Wild Card spot. Eight of the team’s 36 losses have been to the Diamondbacks, who they finally beat for the first time this season Wednesday night.
“This year has been a big test,” Chapman said. “And maybe it’s not over, but it’s going to be a year where we look at ourselves in the mirror and decide how we get these things right, how we take this thing to the next level and get where we want to go.”
Like clockwork, the situation grew a tad worse. On Tuesday, Chapman came out of the 8-2 loss in the seventh inning with symptoms of an abdominal strain he said he’d been playing through for weeks. On Wednesday, he went on the 10-day injured list, which was just as well since Chapman’s wife, Taylor, is about to give birth to their second child and first son, Jack. He’d have gone on the three-day paternity list anyway.
Now, Chapman can join her for the big event, which shows that in every season of turmoil there’s time for some real joy.
“I’ve been on call,” he noted. “I’m sleeping with my phone right by my bed.”
Giants’ Stars Contributing To Team’s Malaise
The Giants’ biggest problem is that their highest paid veteran players – Chapman, Willy Adames and Rafael Devers – are having down seasons. The trio is being paid an aggregate of $80.4 million this season on long-term contracts, which will make them awfully hard to move by the Aug. 3 trade deadline. They’re hitting a combined .236.
Devers is signed through 2033, Adames through 2031 and Chapman through 2030. The Giants are 27th in MLB with 349 runs scored, 21st with 93 homers and 25th with 340 runs batted in. The above trio has contributed 36 homers and 118 RBIs. Not much bang for the buck.
It doesn’t give Posey, in his second season of a three-year deal as president of baseball operations, much room to operate. The Giants would have to absorb major money to move any of them. Posey has been hammered for signing those players, as well as for firing veteran manager Bob Melvin last year with one season to go on his contract in favor of Tony Vitello, a former college coach with no Major League experience. Sight unseen, Vitello was signed to a three-year contract worth $10.5 million with a vesting option for 2029.
Vitello has had a tough time adjusting since he joined the club for spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz. Does all the losing have a snowball effect?
“Every game is separate,” Vitello said. “If anybody has an issue with that, it’s me. You think about the last game, not the next game. At least I do. There’s a snowball effect of what happens in the game for sure. The biggest adjustment for me has been just trying to find a way to play more winning baseball.”
Snowball effect or not, despite this despondent season, neither Posey nor Vitello are going anywhere soon. Posey is a franchise icon, the catcher on the Giants’ three World Series teams from 2010 to 2014. Vitello is not yet fireable.
These are quality people suffering through a miserable learning experience.
“We’re going through a change, for sure, with Buster taking over and Tony coming in,” Chapman said. “With some new guys and some young guys there’s just a lot of things coming together. It looks bad. It doesn’t look like things are going the way they should. I’ve been through some rough stretches, maybe not as rough as this, but things can turn around really quick.”
It might start with some organizational recognition that the promotion schedule and baseball operations are indeed linked.
