A’s announcer Glen Kuiper apologizes for apparent on-air racial slur before Royals game

The A’s released a statement following Friday night’s 12-9 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, responding to an on-air comment made by Oakland broadcaster Glen Kuiper.

During a pregame show, Kuiper said he made a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City earlier on Friday, but appeared to use a racial slur instead of the word Negro.

At the start of the sixth inning, Kuiper apologized for the comment.

“Welcome back to Kauffman Stadium. I just want to ... a little earlier in the show, I said something, didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to,” Kuiper said. “And I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. And like I said, I just wanted to apologize for that.”

Following the game, the Oakland A’s released a statement through the team’s communications Twitter account.

“The language used by Glen Kuiper during today’s pregame broadcast is unacceptable,” the team wrote. ”The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation.”

Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, issued a statement on Saturday afternoon about Kuiper.

“I’m aware of the unfortunate slur made by Glen Kuiper,” Kendrick wrote. “I welcomed Glen to the NLBM yesterday and know he was genuinely excited to be here. The word is painful and has no place in our society. And while I don’t pretend to know Glen’s heart I do know that my heart is one of forgiveness. I hope all of you will find it in yourselves to do the same!”