MLB broadcaster Glen Kuiper to call first game since firing over racial slur

Glen Kuiper is back on the air. 

Nearly three years after appearing to say a racial slur during a broadcast, the former A’s announcer will return to the radio booth when the Giants play Team USA during spring training on March 3. 

Kuiper, who is the younger brother of San Francisco’s longtime play-by-play announcer Duane Kuiper, will also fill in for 10-15 Giants broadcasts during the regular season, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Oakland Athletics broadcaster Glen Kuiper poses next to the Ray Fosse backdrop in the TV booth at the Coliseum before a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 6, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. AP

The incident occurred during the pregame coverage of an A’s-Royals game on May 5, 2023. Kuiper, along with broadcast partner Dallas Braden, discussed their visit to Kansas City’s Negro League Museum, which Kuiper appeared to trip over and use the N-word instead.

Kuiper apologized during the sixth inning of the game after learning of the utterance, although he was suspended by NBC following the game.

“A little bit earlier in the show, I said something, 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 to be said. I just wanted to apologize for that,” Kuiper said during the broadcast.

Broadcaster Glen Kuiper Jr. of the Oakland Athletics works from the pressbox during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Hohokam Stadium on March 8, 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. Getty Images

A couple of weeks later, Kuiper, who had worked as the A’s play-by-play man since 2006, was fired by the network. 

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

After his firing, Kuiper expressed frustration with the decision, writing in a statement that he had a “hard time understanding how one mistake in a 20-year broadcasting career is cause for termination” and that “racism is in no way a part of me.”