How 29 MLB teams will celebrate LGBTQ Pride Nights in 2023

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At a time when Pride celebrations are under siege, baseball is almost unanimous is celebrating our community. Hopefully all of them go well.

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The annual Outsports MLB Pride Night Guide is one of my favorite stories to assemble every year. It combines the sport I follow most passionately with celebrations of one of the most important parts of my identity.

Plus it's a feature that presents dozens of opportunities to reference 1940s-era Hall of Famers and "Drag Race Season 15" finalists. Good luck finding that at the Athletic.

This year, however, I must admit a different kind of emotion accompanies the unveiling of the guide: trepidation.

After repeated disasters during NHL Pride and coordinated anti-LGBTQ attacks against Bud Light and Target, I’m a little wary about what the next month could bring. Plus, I’m well aware that it took a full-scale protest to get the Dodgers to restore their invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and that MLB has its share of players who share the belief systems of Jason Adam and Anthony Bass.

Nonetheless, a big part of Pride is simply showing up to represent our community and demonstrate that we will not back down in the face of powerful adversity.

At their heart, MLB Pride Nights are marketing-driven events. But in an atmosphere where religious fanatics, reactionary zealots, and homophobic wannabe influencers have convinced other corporations to walk back their Pride efforts, it's important that 29 baseball teams are still going to openly celebrate our community. The Texas Rangers remain the lone holdout.

I hope all of these Pride Nights go off without a hitch. Here's what you can expect from your favorite team this June…

Arizona Diamondbacks: June 17 vs. Cleveland Guardians

The D-backs will be giving out Pride fanny packs this year and they look pretty sharp. But what makes their promotion special is that all fans who buy a Pride ticket package get to participate in a pregame Rainbow Walk on the warning track. Which means that Chase Field is going to be hosting its very own Pride parade. It's an excellent idea and I hope it catches on everywhere.

Atlanta Braves: June 15 vs. Colorado Rockies

Happily, for this year's Pride Night, they Braves have left their tomahawk logo buried among a pile of Kid Rock CDs in the the dustbin marked "1990s white people ideas" and unveiled a stylish Progress Pride "Atlanta" baseball cap instead. It's a giveaway fans can feel good about wearing at the annual pregame party in the Coca-Cola Roxy pavilion next to the ballpark.

Baltimore Orioles: June 28 vs. Cincinnati Reds

On any given night, Camden Yards in one of the most breathtaking sights in all of baseball. When the ballpark's Flag Court is packed with Progress Pride banners and thousands of fans are waving their giveaway Pride flags, the views are even more sublime. The O's are also offering fans the option to buy two ticket packages with a pregame Roof Deck party and a cap featuring a rainbow version of their 1990s-era bird logo. As someone who grew up gay in the 90s, I can verify that a Pride Oriole might have been the only good thing from that entire decade.

Boston Red Sox: June 13 vs. Colorado Rockies

Boston is going all out for this year's Pride jersey promo with every detail giving rainbow realness — from the "RED SOX" insignia in the giveaway jersey to the piping down the center and sleeves. Last year, the Sox invited several local drag queens to be part of their first pitch ceremonies and with the drag community still under siege, here's hoping they bring them back and make it a tradition. If the queens then decide to repay the favor by lip syncing Ted Williams’ last at bat home run, they’d slay the category of "The Fiercest Hitter Who Ever Lived."

Chicago Cubs: June 13 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

There's already something special about walking in under a row of rainbow flags above Wrigley Field's iconic marquee and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with Jonathan Van Ness or Chicago's LGBTQ community leaders. On top of all that, this year's Cubs Pride jerseys are all kinds of fire. The rainbow pinstripes and throwback script are brilliant enough by themselves. But the piece de resistance is the "PRIDE 23" on the back.

No. 23 also belongs to Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, a superstar who happens to be my favorite player of all time (and who marched in the 2016 Chicago Pride Parade!). It's as if the Cubs marketing department burst onto the design floor and demanded, "Make something that guarantees Ken Schultz buys a ticket!" And they nailed it. The only way these jerseys could be any more targeted at me is if one of them was wrapped around Tom Daley's torso.

Unfortunately, the wonderful multidecade-long tradition Out at Wrigley has been discontinued due to difficulties finding sponsorship. It had a great run.

Chicago White Sox: June 21 vs. Texas Rangers

The White Sox will again be celebrating local queer creatives by giving out a South Side Pride T-shirt designed by Chicago LGBTQ artist Sandra Antongiorgi. That's already awesome but then there's even better news: after beating cancer, Liam Hendriks is back to raise the Sox Pride flag! If he gets a save opportunity, we’ll all be able to cheer him taking the mound to a remix of Queen's "We Will Rock You." Even Hendriks’ entrance music is an LGBTQ ally.

Cincinnati Reds: July 21 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

True story: For a few years in the 1950s, the Reds changed their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs as a response to the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era. As you may know, Sen. Joseph McCarthy also persecuted gay people as fervently as he did suspected communists.

All of this is to say if you showed McCarthy this year's Cincinnati Reds Progress Pride cap, his head would explode.

Cleveland Guardians: June 9 vs. Houston Astros

The sky over downtown Cleveland will light up with rainbows after the game with a fireworks show called "Pride in the C-L-E." Bonus points if the Guardians commit to the Miley bit with a hype video of José Ramirez twerking with a disgraced Canadian pop star and Shane Bieber making out with a sledgehammer. Cleveland fans can also purchase a ticket package featuring a Progress Pride cap with rainbow stitching along the bill.

Colorado Rockies: June 9 vs. San Diego Padres

Echoing my favorite design from last year, the Rockies are again incorporating the rainbow into their mountain silhouette logo with a Pride bucket hat, although the placement of the Coors Light sponsorship makes it look like fans are cheering for the beer more than the team. Considering the Rockies record, they may be onto something.

Detroit Tigers: June 13 vs. Atlanta Braves

The Rainbow Olde English D is one of the best logos in sports and also a perfect Grindr profile handle. This year, the Tigers are featuring it on a crossbody bag promotional package. The logo, I mean, not your Grindr handle. Although that could possibly sell more tickets.

Houston Astros: June 20 vs. New York Mets

For years, I’ve been beating the drums for the Astros to redesign their famous Tequila Sunrise jerseys with horizontal rainbow stripes for their Pride promotion. This year, they’re giving away "Pride 23" jerseys with rainbow stripes inside the name and numeral. If the Astros were any closer to nailing it, they’d be a Nolan Ryan fastball and a perfect Pride jersey would be a batter's chin.

Kansas City Royals: June 16 vs. Los Angeles Angels

Hamburger Mary's is renowned for its drag brunches throughout the country. For this Pride Night, they’ll be partnering with the Royals for a pregame drag show in Kaufman Stadium's Hall of Fame tent. Quite frankly, when it comes to pregames, give me Minti Varieties and Genewa Stanwyck over A-Rod every day of the week and twice on Sundays. For one thing, the queens would have a better chance of comprehending baseball stats. The Royals will also be giving out Progress Pride KC flags via a theme ticket package.

Los Angeles Angels: June 7 vs. Chicago Cubs

It's quite something to realize that this season, if Southern California baseball fans want a drama-free Pride Night, they have to go to Orange County. 2023 is weird. For their part, the Angels unveiled a decidedly drama-free cap with a small Progress Pride flag on the side. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if the Halos gave it some zazz — which is exactly what the agents for Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have been telling the Angels about their roster for years.

Los Angeles Dodgers: June 16 vs. San Francisco Giants

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be there. They deserve the loudest ovation of the night. In the end, the final score was…

Forces of Good: 1

Religious Right Outrage Machine: 0

In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!

Miami Marlins: May 31 vs. San Diego Padres

That date is giving big "Ron DeSantis will never notice our Pride Night if we don't hold it in June, right?" vibes. But the Marlins celebrating Pride before almost everyone else in MLB is also an opportunity to make a statement. It would be cool if Miami drew a real crowd (dare to dream!) for Pride bucket hat night and everyone showed the rest of the baseball that even one of states with the most anti-LGBTQ laws in the country can't stop us.

Milwaukee Brewers: June 7 vs. Baltimore Orioles

This year, the Brewers are changing things up with their Pride T-shirt design by going with their secondary "Block M inside a Wisconsin silhouette" logo in rainbow colors. While the ball-in-glove MB will always be baseball's Girl With a Pearl Earring-esque masterpiece, I like how this shirt implies that Pride covers the entirety of America's Dairyland like some enterprising soul figured out how to mix butter with glitter.

Minnesota Twins: June 16 vs. Detroit Tigers

During the offseason, the Twins unveiled new uniforms and honestly, they were a little meh. But for their Pride Night ticket special, after adding rainbows to their "TWINS" script, the number on the back, and sleeve lining, their new jersey design absolutely slays! We have definitive evidence: Being LGBTQ makes everything hotter — even Minnesota.

New York Mets: June 16 vs. St. Louis Cardinals

There's a chance that Mets Pride Night is going to create a sound never heard before at Citi Field — and no, I’m not talking about cheers for the home team. Thanks to this evening's giveaway of paper fans, if Pete Alonso crushes a 450 foot bomb, he’ll be greeted by a wave of 35,000 Pride fans clacking in unison. As a bonus, there's a remote chance that would inspire Alonso to channel his inner Anetra and Free Willy somersault over Mr. Met onto home plate.

New York Yankees: June 21 vs. Seattle Mariners

Hey, look who's joining the Pride swag party! The Yankees are rolling out a special ticket package featuring a Pride interlocking N.Y. cap that proves once and for all that Rainbow Stripes > Pinstripes. (Calm down, Steinbrenners, I’m just trolling to see if I can hear Billy Martin's ghost curse me out over the crackling of eternal hellfire…) As part of their annual Legacy of Pride celebration, the Bombers will be holding a ceremony to honor their Yankee-Stonewall Scholarship recipients, who will also be the most impressive people in the ballpark that night.

Oakland A's: Sept. 1 vs. Los Angeles Angels

It's been a rough year for Oakland fans as attendance has plummeted after the A's announced their intention to move to Las Vegas. For Glenn Burke Pride Night, the A's are trying to make nice by offering a rainbow socks giveaway and 15% discount on tickets with partial proceeds going to the Oakland LGBTQ Center. Considering how A's ownership operates, it's a pleasant surprise that they’re not feeding the money directly into the slots at Excalibur.

Pittsburgh Pirates: June 9 vs. New York Mets

For their Pride Night, Pirates management isn't giving their fans anything. What do they think this is, every offseason in team history? They are promising a fireworks show and I don't think it's possible to trade those to the Yankees or Dodgers so you should feel pretty secure about that.

Philadelphia Phillies: June 23 vs. New York Mets

The Phillies packed a lot of rainbow into their Pride bucket hat theme ticket promo. But really, there's only one thing we want out of Phillies Pride Night: Bring back "Dancing On My Own" as the victory song. And make it the Robyn version, please.

San Diego Padres: April 14 vs. Milwaukee Brewers

As happened last year, the Padres got the jump on MLB by hosting their Out at the Park promotion before June with a pregame Happy Hour featuring numerous San Diego LGBTQ organizations. The Friars also gave away a gorgeous cap featuring a rainbow S.D. blended perfectly with their City Connect colors of pink and aqua green, which were selected to evoke "weathered beach signs." It's the ideal hat to wear to Black's Beach — especially if it's the only article of clothing you’ve packed.

San Francisco Giants: June 10 vs. Chicago Cubs

Like several other teams, the Giants are giving away rainbow jerseys to the first 20,000 fans with their traditional home uniform design redone in Progress Pride colors (no need to purchase a special ticket package!). Unique to San Francisco, though, is the fact that the rainbow S.F. sleeve patch matches the Pride logo worn in past years by the players on the field. Additionally, the Giants will be celebrating the San Francisco Gay Softball League's 50th anniversary with a pregame ceremony and two seating sections of Oracle Park dedicated to SFGSL players.

Seattle Mariners: June 13 vs. Miami Marlins and June 16 vs. Chicago White Sox

In Seattle, they look at Pride Nights like home-run hitting Ken Griffeys — better when there's two of them. So for 2023, the M's are unveiling two promotions with a Love Wins T-shirt on the 13th and a Pride fanny pack on the 16th. Also for Outsports readers: Brian Bell and I will be in attendance at the June 16 game. So if you want to say hello, just look for the two fans in rainbow fanny packs debating over whether Seattle's greatest contribution to sports was Jay Buhner or Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

St. Louis Cardinals: June 9 vs. Cincinnati Reds

The Cardinals legitimately have an incredible Pride uniform. You know that's true because even I’m admitting it. So when they add the rainbow to the birds on the bat for this Pride jersey, it's like they’ve cranked up the fabulosity well past 11 and yanked out the knob. I like this look. I wouldn't wear it even if I was taken hostage by Yadier Molina at gunpoint but I like it.

Tampa Bay Rays: June 10 vs. Texas Rangers

Well, this should be interesting. In 2022, five Rays relief pitchers decided to celebrate Pride by ripping rainbow logos off their jerseys. In 2023, the giveaway for Rays Pride is a can cooler emblazoned with the slogan: "Baseball is for Everyone." Unfortunately, in the context of last year's fiasco, the placement of Rays sunburst logo makes it looks like that sentiment comes with an asterisk. As if somewhere on the koozie, there's fine print reading, "Does not apply to the home bullpen."

Rays Pride will be a success if the day ends with no one feeling like they’ve stepped back into 1952. So in that way, it's a perfect metaphor for Florida.

Here's a reason to be encouraged: The Rays have invited retired MLB umpire Dale Scott — who is gay — to throw out the first pitch and he’ll be signing copies of his excellent autobiography "The Umpire Is Out" at The Trop.

Toronto Blue Jays: June 9-10 vs. Minnesota Twins

Up to this point, all of the Pride jerseys I’ve covered have incorporated the rainbow into the team insignia or the uniform itself. To kick off their Pride Weekend on Friday night, the Blue Jays have taken the concept up a notch by attaching a Progress Pride flag like a cape to their blue jerseys — as if they’re transforming every fan into a superhero gifted with the power of making Marco Rubio and Bill Donohue irrelevant. This design is what would happen if Tan France was assigned to zhush up Joe Carter's World Series walk-off home run and it's utterly brilliant.

Washington Nationals: June 6 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Nats’ 17th annual Night OUT promotion features a special ticket package paired with a Pride T-shirt and a donation to Team DC for every ticket sold. That's always a good start. Plus, as Dale Scott reported from his Pride Night tour last year, Night OUT features appearances by LGBTQ heroes like Dr. Rachel Levine.

But here's what sets the Nationals apart: a Screech Night OUT bobblehead in which their mascot is flaunting a rainbow flag costume so fabulous, it looks like the first ballpark giveaway to be invited to the Met Gala.

And the kicker: This amazing figurine is being given out to the first 20,000 fans regardless of whether or not they bought the ticket package.

Condragulations, Nationals — you’re a winner, baby! Whoever thought of this promo deserves a year's supply of cosmetics from Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Texas Rangers: Maybe next year

It's one thing for the Rangers to continue ignoring their LGBTQ fans by refusing to host a Pride Night. It's quite another for them to spend Pride Month by scheduling community nights for not one, not two but three colleges that are featured on Campus Pride's Absolute Worst Campuses for LGBTQ Youth. The Rangers are in dire need of an ownership exorcism. And outside of one Friday this month, I hear the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence might be available.