Oakland A's television broadcaster Glen Kuiper has been suspended after he uttered a racial slur during the team's Friday evening broadcast in an apparent slip-up while discussing a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. A spokesperson for NBC Sports California, which carries A's games, said on Saturday that Kuiper will be removed from the air while the incident is reviewed.
The incident occurred during the pregame portion of the broadcast of the A's game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. At the time, Kuiper said: "We had a phenomenal day today. (N-word) league museum. And Arthur Bryant's Barbecue."
Video of the incident, which contains uncensored use of the offensive language, can be found here.
Later, in the sixth inning, Kuiper issued an on-air apology. Via The Athletic:
"A little bit earlier in the show, I said something, didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to," Kuiper said. "I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. I just wanted to apologize for that."
The club issued a statement regarding the incident later that night:
Later on Saturday, Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Museum, released his own statement:
It's not yet certain what steps, if any, the club will take to address the matter. Other broadcasters in the past have been suspended or even terminated for similar incidents.
Kuiper, 59, has been the A's primary local-television broadcaster for the past 17 seasons.
