May 22, 2016

Padres in hot water over national anthem mixup

Padres in hot water over national anthem mixup
San Diego Men's Gay Chorus calls for investigation after woman's voice played over Petco PA with 100 men's chorus members on field

The Padres have a PR problem on their hands after a mixup during the national anthem for Saturday night's game against the Dodgers.

There were 100 members of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus on the field to sing the anthem, but a woman's voice — believed to be that of Friday's anthem singer — was played over the PA system while the men stood on the field. The anthem is not always performed live, and this was an instance where a taped version was to be played with the performers on the field.

The Padres issued a one-paragraph statement during Saturday night's game to apologize for the incident:

“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. 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.”

San Diego Union-Tribune