Aroldis Chapman had an extremely unfortunate error on his uniform during Friday’s game.
Chapman and the Boston Red Sox played Friday against the Atlanta Braves. The veteran reliever Chapman came into pitch during the ninth inning at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. and ended up making headlines for the wrong reasons.
Armed Forces Day was celebrated nationwide on Saturday and teams around Major League Baseball were wearing American flag patches on their caps all throughout the weekend to commemorate the occasion. But Chapman’s patch was unfortunately a little bit off.
Viewers noticed that the American flag patch on Chapman’s hat was upside down. Take a look.
Aroldis Chapman with his flag turned upside down on the cap pic.twitter.com/77NT3MojuE
— Coconut Head (@JohnnyDoGud) May 16, 2026
An upside-down flag is acceptable only in extreme circumstances. According to the U.S. flag code, the American flag should not be displayed upside down except to signal “dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life and property.” That said, others have used an upside-down flag before as a protest gesture.
The eight-time All-Star Chapman, a native of Cuba, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the Red Sox, but the team still lost to the Braves by a final of 3-2 in 10 innings. Chapman has sparked plenty of controversy in years past with his off-the-field behavior and also created another controversy during Friday’s game with his upside-down flag patch.
