MLB will investigate Padres over gay men's chorus national anthem incident
Major League Baseball will look into an incident that occurred at Petco Park on Saturday, when the Padres played a track of a woman's voice singing the national anthem while the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus attempted to sing the song.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney told USA Today that the league is investigating whether someone with the Padres intentionally played the track instead of hearing the men's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Saturday's game, which the Padres designated Pride Night.
The Padres told the outlet that the contractor responsible for the mishap was fired and a team employee was disciplined. This was the eighth year the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus performed the anthem at Petco Park.
"We are pleased that Major League Baseball is going to look into this issue and we will cooperate fully," Padres president Mike Dee told USA Today on Monday. "Based on our internal investigation, and our decisive actions yesterday, we are eager for all the facts surrounding this unfortunate incident to come forward."
The chorus lashed out at the Padres on its Facebook page Sunday.
"No attempt to correct the situation occurred other than to force the 100 men to stand in the spotlight of center field for the song's duration and then be escorted off the field to the heckles of baseball fans shouting homophobic taunts including, 'You sing like a girl.' "
The Padres issued an apology hours after what they described as a "mistake."
Statement from the #Padres regarding tonight's National Anthem: pic.twitter.com/KAKUAjlg6W
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 22, 2016
"This evening, during the pregame ceremony, a mistake was made in the Petco Park control room that prevented the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus from performing the national anthem as scheduled," the Padres said in a statement. "We apologize to anyone in the ballpark who this may have offended, and have reached out to the chorus to express our deep regret for the error."
On Monday, DJ ArtForm (aka Art Romero) apologized for his error in a Facebook post:
