Glen Kuiper to call some Giants games, years after racial slurs firing

Glen Kuiper, the former Oakland A’s TV broadcaster who was fired after he used a racial slur on air while discussing his visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, will be returning to the airwaves, calling the radio play-by-play for the San Francisco Giants’ exhibition game against Team USA next week.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Kuiper’s move across the bay, as well as the fact that Kuiper will fill in on about a dozen games after the team held “definite conversations” about the veteran broadcaster.

“The Giants are committed to inclusion, respect and earning our fans’ trust,” Rachel Heit, the Giants’ chief marketing officer, told the Chronicle. “We had numerous conversations about the requirements for excellence we expect from our broadcasters. Glen’s addition to the broadcast team is reflective of how he’s approached his growth and what he’s demonstrated from an accountability perspective.”

It’s been nearly three years since Kuipe‘s voice appeared during an MLB game, but the San Francisco Giants’ leadership believes he’s taken ‘full responsibility,’ according to Heit.

The moment occurred during his 17th season as the A’s play-by-play announcer, on May 5, 2023, when he is heard saying, ‘we had a phenomenal day today at (N-word) museum and Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue,’ before a game between the A’s and Royals. 

Kuiper later apologized for what he had said during the game’s sixth inning.

‘A little bit earlier in the show, I said something that didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to, and I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it,’ Kuiper said.

‘Following an internal review, the decision has been made for NBC Sports California to end its relationship with Glen Kuiper, effective immediately,” the network said in a statement released on May 22, 2023. “We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years.”

USA TODAY reporter Lindsay Schnell contributed to this article.

Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.