The Washington Nationals wanted to wear hats honoring the fallen Navy SEALs during their first home game since the helicopter tragedy. The MLB said no.

No sport in America is more patriotic than Major League Baseball, so it was odd that the powers that be got in the way of a tribute to our fallen military heroes.

The Washington Nationals, who play their home games just down the street from the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, wanted to wear special hats with military insignias during their game with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. This was the Nats’ first home game since 30 soldiers riding in a helicopter were killed in Afghanistan on August 6th. But Commissioner Bud Selig’s top executives stopped it from happening.

MLB’s response: You can’t wear tribute hats unless each and every team in the league wears the same hats at the same time.

And so, barring some league-wide decision to simultaneously wear the same hat, the Washington Nations are actually banned from honoring our fallen heroes.

Perhaps the MLB should reflect on its situation: It is able to exist only because brave men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf. And then they block patriotic teams from honoring those brave men and women. What’s wrong with the commissioner and his cronies?