The remarks were made during the fifth inning of the game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, when Sean McDonough started talking with play-by-play announcer Will Flemming about a possible World Series matchup between Boston and San Francisco. Flemming’s brother, Dave, is a broadcaster with the Giants.
Flemming said that, perhaps, nobody outside of Giants manager Gabe Kapler and President of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi, could have foreseen their team’s success.
McDonough responded, “The Giants GM’s name is High Anxiety?” Flemming laughed off the comment and then repeated the name of the Giants exec. McDonough replied, “Oh,” after several laughs.
The comments come amid public concern about a nationwide increase in anti-Asian harassment and violence.
Zaidi is a Pakistani Muslim, born in Canada and raised in the Philippines. He attended MIT and received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. He is the first Muslim and Asian general manager of any major North American sports franchise.
The Red Sox and their flagship station, WEEI-FM, have had a troubled history with race.
They have not yet responded to questions about the remarks.
