Padres apologize to gay men’s chorus for error in national anthem recording
The 100 men, in black dress shirts and pants, formed two rows in center field at Petco Park in San Diego before the Padres played the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.
The men, members of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus, had been invited by the Padres to sing the national anthem. In keeping with the team’s request, the chorus would not sing live but would perform to an amplified rendition it had recorded.
The group waited for its cue, and after a prolonged pause, a recording began — of a young woman singing, said Bob Lehman, executive director of the chorus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvSFul9Dksc
Before a near-capacity crowd announced at more than 40,000, the men awkwardly waited for the song to finish. There was no announcement or attempt to stop the recording, Lehman said. The men were then ushered off the field as fans taunted them with phrases like “You sing like a girl” and “You never sounded better,” Lehman said.
“They just kind of let us stand there,” he said, describing the moment as surreal and devastating.
Lehman said he had bought $360 worth of tickets for family and friends, none of whom stayed for the game. He also said that he had thrown away a rally towel the team had given to chorus members, and that members and supporters were left feeling that the wrong recording had been played deliberately.
The team did not respond to a phone call or an email Sunday. In a statement, the Padres expressed “deep regret” for what they said was a mistake made in the stadium’s control room.
Statement from the #Padres regarding last night’s National Anthem: pic.twitter.com/xBlT6WdPa1
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 23, 2016
Lehman said he spoke with Mike Dee, the team’s chief executive, whom he described as sincerely apologetic. Lehman said he was told that the regular technician had been in a car crash the night before and that a substitute was in the control room.
“Somebody didn’t know how to press the stop button?” he asked. “I couldn’t believe a professional organization like that didn’t know what to do.”
On Twitter, the team said it had offered the chorus an opportunity to return.
https://twitter.com/Padres/status/734244296346374144
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com