Blake Treinen came out of the Dodgers bullpen Friday night and, for one pitch, became part of the game’s quietest oddity. He entered in the top half of the ninth inning at Uniqlo Field wearing the club’s usual blue and white "LA" hat while the rest of his teammates were in LGBTQ+-inspired Pride hats.
That detail stood out because the Dodgers were in the middle of their annual Pride Night celebration, and the difference was visible even before Freddie Freeman ended the game with a walk-off home run for a 1-0 victory over the Angels. Treinen needed only one pitch to get Oswald Peraza to ground out and end the inning, but the hat he wore drew attention long after the out was recorded.
The Dodgers have worn the rainbow-themed hats every year since 2022, when they first introduced them during a road game against the Giants. That same night marked the first time two teams wore rainbow hats in the same game, and the club has turned Pride Night into a fixture over the last 13 years. Before the first pitch Friday, the Dodgers also unveiled what they said would be a permanent stadium display featuring images and a rainbow honoring Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, the first professional baseball players to openly come out as gay after they retired.
What Treinen wore did not fit the team’s uniform look, and there was no explanation for why he did not match the rest of the Dodgers. The contrast was sharper because the team’s Pride Night presentation was otherwise complete, from the hats to the pregame tribute and the late finish that followed Freeman’s home run. By Saturday, when the Dodgers returned for the second game of the series against the Angels, they were back in their traditional blue and white "LA" hats.
For now, the image that lingers is simple: one Dodgers pitcher, one pitch, one different hat, and no public answer for why it happened on a night built around a show of unity.
