1-Man’s Opinion-Column-Monday “Padres-As Bad As It Gets-In Full View of Everyone”

Posted by on May 23rd, 2016  •  1 Comment  • 

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“As Bad As It Gets-In Full View of Everyone”

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There is probably an explanation as to why the mistake happened. There can be no excuse accepted. I wonder if somebody in upper level management will lose their job?

And I wonder if the Padres need to review all their corporate policies, about how they act, the way they act.

The Saturday night embarrassment, involving the Gay Men’s Chorus, in centerfield, as the national anthem was to be played, is no longer a San Diego event. It has gone viral, gone global, and become a cause-celebre for the Gay-Lesbian Community.

The 100-member Men’s Chorus was to sing the anthem just before the start of the Friday night game. It was to be a lip-sync version of the Star Spangled Banner, while a taped version of their song was played.

Somehow, a Padres official punched up the wrong anthem, from a woman officer, who sang the anthem on Friday night at home plate.

The full anthem played, as the Men’s Chorus stood in silence. No effort was made to stop the misplaced anthem. No apology was made on the Public Address system at the conclusion.

It was nearly 3-hours later before the Padres issued a 2-sentence release apologizing for the mistake.

Now it is front page news, not just in San Diego, but across the country. The tabloid newspapers have picked up the story with their version of damning headlines. “You sing like girls” screamed the headline in the New York Post, referencing some fans abuse directed at the men’s group.

Now we find out more, the Padres don’t allow any groups to sing the anthem ‘live’.

And details bubbling to the surface, the Padres tried to strong arm the 100-member club to buy tickets to the game, to perform. Smacks of last falls’ sleazy NFL story, that teams honored American servicemen while collecting corporate sponsor dollars from the Army.

The Men’s Gay group wants an MLB probe into how they were treated, the humiliation they suffered, and why the Padres act the way they act towards those asked-invited to perform.

Yes mistakes were made in the control booth. Human error for sure. But yes, it seems a deeper rooted problem in the business philosophies of President Mike Dee and Vice President of Marketing Wayne Partello, and this falls at their front door, not at the door of a control booth operator who makes 15-dollars a night per home game.

You salute Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler for their ownership leadership. This has to cause steam to come out of their ears. This should lead to an evaluation of their leaders, not for the mistake, but the bigger picture issues.

This feels worse than the horrors of the Tom Werner ownership era, when Roseanne Barr blurted out the anthem, while spitting and grabbing her crotch.

We also recall that former Padres President Chub Feeney was fired for giving hometown fans the finger from his owners booth during a Padres loss.

Or the eventual decision for Tom Garfinkel to exit, after he mocked then Dodgers pitcher Zach Greinke for an emotional disorder he was seeking treatment for.

And Mike Dee ran the Miami Dolphins during two year period when the Richie Incognito “Hazing Club” went unchecked.

The Padres have made Petco Park a destination point for good times and families and fans. That should include Gays & Lesbians. I doubt this was a prank. I doubt this how Dee-Partello orchestrated this.
I believe an honest mistake compounded my a more serious leadership mistake.

But they are to be blamed for not responding till 9:37pm, nearly 3-hours after it happened, and how a tersely worded apology was supposed to be acceptable. And they have to explain squeezing every dollar out of every person who crosses the street at Tony Gwynn Way.

Management should not go into hiding. They need to stand infront of home plate and apologize. The Padres leadership is better than that. The Gay & Lesbian community deserves better than that too.

It was as bad as it could get, in full view of everyone, here and now everywhere.

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One Response to “1-Man’s Opinion-Column-Monday “Padres-As Bad As It Gets-In Full View of Everyone””

  1. Ron Talamantez says:

    I agree 100 percent, this behavior reigns in the domain of the rediculous!

    I am straight,

    Ron Talamantez

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