Appealing to both Christian and LGBTQ fan bases isn’t easy, as major league teams across America are finding out. Hosting a promotion for one group risks alienating the other.

Lance Berkman, a six-time All-Star who led St. Louis to a World Series title in 2011, was scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Cardinals’ “Christian Day” on July 30. After Berkman, a father of four daughters, said he does not want “troubled men to enter women’s bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms,” the PrideCenter of St. Louis branded Berkman a bigot “whose words and actions toward the LGBTQ+ are divisive and demeaning.” The Cardinals have now scheduled their first-ever “Pride Night” for Aug. 25.

The Pittsburgh Pirates handed out hats featuring rainbow versions of their block “P” logo when they hosted their first Pride Day on July 2, but on that same day a Pirates promotion offered replica jerseys to children 14 and younger, leading to fan complaints. The Pirates have scheduled a Faith Night for Aug. 17.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also came under fire for LGBTQ celebration in the presence of children. At the Dodgers’ June 9 home game, the team’s “Kiss Cam”—a popular feature in which supposedly random couples, upon seeing themselves on the stadium’s giant television screen, smooch to fans’ delight—showcased several same-sex couples. The Kiss Cam in 2015 also showed gay men kissing.

The Dodgers will host a Christian Faith Day on Sept. 10. Pitcher Clayton Kershaw and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez are scheduled speakers. The Dodgers have also scheduled a Lutheran Night (Aug. 12) and a Catholic Night (Sept. 9).

The Cardinals, Pirates, and Dodgers did not respond to multiple interview requests from WORLD.

Tebow at bat

The New York Mets on June 25 promoted former football star Tim Tebow from their low-Class A Columbia Fireflies farm club in South Carolina to their high-A affiliate in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The promotion came despite Tebow hitting just .220 with three home runs, 23 RBIs, 69 strikeouts, and seven fielding errors in 64 games at Columbia.

While those numbers aren’t impressive, they’re not horrible considering that Tebow—who turns 30 in August—hadn’t played baseball since high school before the Mets signed him last year. Since his promotion, Tebow has hit .321 in 53 at-bats with St. Lucie (through July 15)—thanks in large part to an 11-game hitting streak. Tebow has also hit two home runs and collected 11 RBIs.

Columbia Fireflies manager Jose Leger said Tebow showed his teammates how to “handle failure. If he has a span of 15 hitless at-bats, just to say a number, and the next day he gets two hits, he’s the same guy.”

The Charleston RiverDogs, one of Columbia’s in-state rivals in the South Atlantic League, jabbed at Tebow when the Fireflies visited. The RiverDogs’ mascot wore eye black featuring “John 3:16,” as Tebow did at Florida, and regularly struck the “Tebowing” pose the Heisman Trophy winner made famous after scoring touchdowns during his brief stint in the NFL. The RiverDogs also played the “Hallelujah Chorus” as Tebow’s walk-up music whenever he came to bat.

The RiverDogs later apologized. Tebow said he hadn’t noticed: “If they feel bad about something, I appreciate the apology. ... If they did some silly things, then they did them. I’m not worried about it.” —R.H.

$12 million tithe

After signing a five-year, $125 million contract in late June to become the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr pledged to tithe 10 percent, $12.5 million. Carr says he has tithed regularly since his college days at Fresno State, where he received a $700 stipend each semester as part of his scholarship package. Carr threw for 3,937 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2016. —R.H.