On Saturday, Glen Kuiper, long-time broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics, was suspended from his post following an incident that occurred during the team’s game against the Kansas City Royals the previous night.
During the pregame coverage, Kuiper had mentioned that he and his broadcast partner Dallas Braden had visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum while in Kansas City. However, he appeared to replace the first word with a racially-charged slur.
NBC Sports California released a statement saying Kuiper would remain off the air until a review of the situation was completed, and Vince Cotroneo and Johnny Doskow will fill in for him in the mean time.
Kuiper apologized for his mistake during the sixth inning of the game, stating that his wording “didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to.” Afterwards, the A’s organization released their own statement on Twitter regarding the incident, and Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, expressed his own feelings in a statement on Saturday. He wrote, “I’m aware of the unfortunate slur made by Glen Kuiper. I welcomed Glen to the NLBM yesterday and know he was genuinely excited to be here. The word is painful and has no place in our society. And while I don’t pretend to know Glen’s heart I do know that my heart is one of forgiveness. I hope all of you will find it in yourselves to do the same!” Dave Stewart, former A’s pitcher, agreed with Kendrick’s sentiment.
Kuiper has been broadcasting A’s games for the past 20 years and is the younger brother of former major leaguer and current Giants announcer Duane Kuiper.