Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey met with local media prior to Tuesday’s game against the A’s but declined to speak in depth about the team’s Pride Night controversy “despite numerous follow-up questions,” according to Justice Delos Santos of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. Posey “responded that he would answer ‘baseball questions’” when asked to expand on a brief opening comment. One reporter “pointed out that the Pride Night matter is baseball-related, referencing that the team had yet to respond” to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s assertion that the Giants “did not properly communicate with their players whether they were required to wear the team’s rainbow-themed Pride Night cap” on June 12. A member of the Giants’ media relations department then noted that Posey “would be available to answer baseball questions or the press conference would be over” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 6/23). USA TODAY’s Gabe Lacques wrote Posey and the organization were “thoroughly unprepared to address” the controversy, which has “remarkably” turned into a nearly two-week story. Posey’s actions will “likely will only further disappoint large swaths of the Giants’ fan base” (USA TODAY, 6/23).
ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE: In S.F., Ann Killion noted Posey is the only Giants exec to speak after a “firestorm of embarrassing bad publicity,” and he “only made the controversy worse.” Posey “never offered easy words about the Giants valuing all their fans” or “hoping the team can move forward.” Killion: “This was not the Buster Posey we’re used to seeing. Not the calm, mature presence who seemed at ease in any situation ever since he was drafted in 2008. Posey was tense, nervous and looking for rescue from the team’s press liaison.” The situation was a “very inadequate response from a team that has been in the national crosshairs for 10 days” and a “missed opportunity from an organization that used to be extremely concerned about its public image.” Meanwhile, fans have “flooded the Giants with emails, expressing their feelings,” but they are reporting that they “aren’t hearing back from the team” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/23).
POOR HANDLING: In California, Evan Webeck wrote it was an “embarrassing waste of time from one of the franchise’s most beloved players.” Posey’s silence on the Pride Night controversy forced manager Tony Vitello to “answer more uncomfortable questions” on the topic. That comes on top of the organization issuing “one milquetoast statement” and refusing to make any other club execs available “despite the scandal growing so large that the Department of Justice launched an investigation into MLB on the grounds of religious discrimination” (CALIFORNIA POST, 6/23).
