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MLB concludes Padres national anthem fiasco wasn't malicious

Mike Oz

A Major League Baseball investigation into the national anthem fiasco involving the San Diego Padres and the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus has concluded the "regrettable situation was a product of human error" and had no malicious intent.

MLB launched its own investigation into the controversy after it hit the mainstream news cycle earlier this week. On Saturday, members of chorus were ready to sing the national anthem at Petco Park when a recorded version of the song played with a woman's voice. The chorus left the field embarrassed and said later they were being taunted with homophobic slurs by fans.

Afterward, the group called for an investigation to find out whether this was discriminatory or a "hate crime." The Padres and eventually MLB obliged, with separate investigations. Here's MLB's full statement on its findings, which indicate that some Padres employees were ill-prepared for the national anthem mix-up but there was no malice involved.

Major League Baseball announced today that it has completed its investigation into the unfortunate events of Saturday, May 21st, when members of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus had been scheduled to perform the Star-Spangled Banner before the Padres’ “Pride Night” home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park.  The review, which was conducted by MLB’s Department of Investigations, included a dozen interviews with individuals who were involved in the situation.

The Department of Investigations has concluded that the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus has performed the Star-Spangled Banner multiple times before a Padres game; that Saturday’s regrettable situation was a product of human error; that the situation was exacerbated by the fact that the lead entertainment supervisor was involved in a car accident on Friday night and thus was unable to work on Saturday and handle his typical responsibilities; that employees involved in the matter were handling new duties with which they were insufficiently familiar; and that the employees involved had no malicious intentions and, in fact, universally relayed contrition for how the incident unfolded and the adverse impression that it created.

MLB received the full cooperation of Padres management, which expressed its deepest apologies.  MLB believes that the Padres’ efforts to remedy the situation, including its invitation to the Chorus to return to a future game to perform the National Anthem, are appropriate and has every expectation that the Club’s longstanding record of inclusion will be evident in the future.

As for the Padres' investigation, it resulted in the team's on-field DJ being terminated and another employee being disciplined. The DJ, DJ ArtForm, apologized and owned his mistake, but he was adamant that nothing discriminatory had happened. On Tuesday, the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus accepted his apology and said it wants DJ ArtForm to be rehired by the Padres. And on Thursday, the Padres announced they had offered DJ ArtForm a new position and he had accepted.

The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus issued this statement Thursday afternoon:

The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus expresses its appreciation to Major League Baseball, the San Diego Padres and President & CEO Mike Dee for their thorough review of the events that transpired in the broadcast booth during Saturday night’s game.

We have every confidence in their findings and we know Major League Baseball will use this experience to further reinforce its policies of LGBT inclusion and acceptance both on and off the playing field. It is our sincere hope that out of this incident comes good--and that’s to continue our national conversation about professional sports, professional athletes and the LGBT community.

We are already moving forward in a constructive and positive direction for both the San Diego Padres and the LGBT community. We want to thank Mike Dee personally for working so closely with San Diego Pride and our Chorus. With Mike’s leadership, we know the San Diego Padres will become a national model for LGBT inclusion among all professional sports organizations.

Our Chorus is greatly humbled and deeply touched by the outpouring of support we have received from around the world. The words of encouragement from so many people have been overwhelming and positive. We would like to thank all of the community leaders who have come together in support including Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilman Todd Gloria.

We look forward to working together in partnership with the San Diego Padres.

So, it sounds like this controversy is over now.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!