San Diego Padres botch anthem, issue apology

Typically, the news we hear of a “Padres fail” is regarding baseball, be it a bad play or a game loss. This time though, a supposed technical error during the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus performance of the national anthem at Petco Park on Saturday, May 21 is what has spectators and fans disappointed.

Over 100 male chorus members assembled on the field to sing the national anthem on “Pride Night” at Petco Park. When it came time for them to perform, they were instead overshadowed by a recording of a woman’s voice. The moment led to hateful words about the gay men from the crowd, including comments like “You sing like a girl,” and other insulting remarks.

Prior to taking the stage, the members of the chorus faced a different type of confusion regarding their performance. The men were asked to purchase tickets in order to enter the park for their performance, regardless of if they were planning to stay for the game or not. This issue was ironed out by allowing the performing men to enter the park for free if they were not staying for the game, but the next unfortunate incident was soon to follow.

Padres national anthem mixup

The artistic director for the chorus told the San Diego Union-Tribune that they were truly looking forward to this event.

“We were just excited to be at a game and let the audience see us and hear us and let us know that we’re sports fans too, and we’re normal guys,” said RC Haus, artistic director for the chorus. “And then a woman sings over us, and it was mortifying.”

The Padres issued a statement regarding the event, after the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus requested an investigation into what exactly caused this incident, stating:

“After a thorough examination of the events that occurred during last night’s National Anthem, we have concluded our internal investigation and have found no evidence of malicious intent on the part of any individuals involved. Based both on the unintentional mistake that was made, as well as the failure to immediately intervene and correct the situation by those who had oversight, we have terminated our relationship with the third-party contractor who was responsible for the error, and taken disciplinary action against our employee who was responsible for the game production on Saturday.”

What do you think? Is this apology enough to make up for the horrible national anthem mix up?

Is the Padres apology to the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus sincere?

Yes, it is.

45%

(10)

No, it’s not good enough.

55%

(12)

22 total votes.

Source: DiscoverSD