Stitching a sanctuary: the story of the Mariners Pride Ball
How a “labor of love” from the mind of Seattle’s creative director became a league-wide celebration.
First, it sailed through the air on a perfect Seattle summer evening; rolling off of Ginny Gilder’s fingers, rainbow stitches tumbling towards home plate.
Then it traveled down the coast, where Iowayna Peña gripped it in her hands on the mound at Oracle Park. Then east, to Kansas City and south to Tampa, where Greg Baker and the Rays announced the new Billy Bean Scholarship before Baker threw it off the rubber. Tramour Wilson hurled it in Baltimore, and then it returned to the west, taking center stage at the Diamondbacks Pride Night.
“It’s been a labor of love, the Pride Ball,” says Keri Zierler, Seattle Mariners Creative Director and architect of the Pride Ball. “I was always looking for opportunities to see how else we could build connections with our fans and our communities. As a gay woman, Pride is a personal passion of mine and an event that I really looked at to consider what we could do that was really new and fresh. We’ve seen the Rainbow Laces campaign in the Premier League, and the Pride Tape in the NHL, and I thought there was an opportunity for baseball to make their statement in that way. And certainly for the Mariners to lead the way.”
In a video that debuted on the first day of Pride month, you watch Jerry Thornton’s deft fingers carefully rip the classic red seams of a baseball apart, before the camera cuts to a spool of thick rainbow thread. Thornton picks up a needle and begins to weave the sides back together again, the kaleidoscopic colors tunneling in and out of the pristine white leather.
The concept is simple but poignant, and moved me to tears the first time I saw it. We are all eternally un-stitching and re-stitching the threads of our own identity, cinching new seams taut around the core of our being.
As viewers watch the Pride Ball come to life, a script written by Zierler appears across the screen.
Thread does more than hold a baseball together. Each small stitch can impact its journey through the air. For baseball’s LGBTQ+ fans, players, and communities, small milestones can make a big impact too. From LGBTQ+ players in the minor leagues and LGBTQ+ executives in front office, to every Pride night and parade crew, every action pulls our communities together. And that’s more important than ever. Because there is work to do. We’ve yet to see an out, LGBTQ+ player on a big league roster. But that day will come. And when everyone can be who they are, and love who they love, out loud, everyone wins.
Zierler grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is a lifelong Mariners fan with the bonafides to prove it - including holding on to a paint-splattered 1990s Ken GriffeyJr. Nintendo giveaway t-shirt that she brought to her job interview with the team. Working for the team now, she felt a responsibility to create something that celebrated Pride but also went a little deeper. “It’s okay to acknowledge the work that needs to be done. It’s important to acknowledge the work that needs to be done, and remain hopeful that we continue to take steps forward every day.” Zierler says. “It was important to me to convey that in the video. Everything matters - every event, every step. And this is also an invitation to anyone who sees it to be a part of that action.”
And now, as June comes to a close, hundreds of thousands of fans have been a part of the Pride Ball’s story, either by watching the video or sitting in the stands as it was thrown out as the ceremonial first pitch at Pride Nights in five other ballparks. Originally intended for one-night use at the Mariners’ Pride Night, Zierler and her team reached out to some of their connections across MLB to see if other teams would be interested in featuring it in their Pride Night celebrations. A rare cross-teams collaborative effort within the league, the concept of the Pride Ball was so well-received across the league that they had to cap the ball’s journey. “FedEx can only do so much!” Zierler laughs.
An ArtCenter College of Design graduate (as all the best people are) with a degree in advertising, Zierler believes that sports are uniquely situated to carry these messages of belonging and inclusivity. “Sports are about human stories, and the best advertising is rooted in a human truth,” she explains. “It’s not about selling a product, it’s about connecting on a human level and finding points of connection. And for baseball to be for everyone, it’s about creating opportunities. Opportunities for kids to play, to cultivate that love for the game, but also opportunities to bring people to the ballpark and show them that they’re welcome here, they are safe here. It can be a sanctuary.”