Comments on: Giants Radio Host Larry Krueger Suspended for “Racial Remarks”

By: Skip Smith

Skip Smith — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 05:22:09 +0000

>>"i do not understand why they are treated like that when it is well known that (WE) caribbeans have demonstrated that we are not dead-brain hitters if any doubt check these guysâ stats. byyyeee. racistsâ¦"

People from the Caribbean are so poor, they can't even afford capital letters!

Nah, I'm just kidding. I'm only racist against New Yorkers.

By: Haines in KC

Haines in KC — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:05:19 +0000

A lot of you make my point for me when you choose to make the "small" omission of the word Caribbean from Krueger's statements. Using the word Caribbean specifically calls into question ONLY the players of Latin origin on the team and makes it racial. Hence, my earlier point about someone like Joe Morgan calling into question ONLY the white Americans on the team. You can't leave out the worst part about what Krueger said like it makes no difference (right Zig?). So I say again if someone black like Joe Morgan made a comment about BRAIN-DEAD (don't forget that part since Krueger basically called them stupid as a group he was just too much of a punk not to REALLY break out and say Latin)American WHITE Players (you can't just say Americans because that includes a hell of a lot more groups than Caribbean does)hacking at slop, I would call for Joe's head too. Of course calling all white players brain-dead wouldn't be offensive to me personally (since I'm black), but just because it's OK to me doesn't mean it's not offensive to someone else, and I should just discount those who don't agree as childish or intolerant. I think a lot of whites in this country are starting to feel a bit persecuted these days for what in some cases really is for no good reason. Well you know what? Just like a lot of you say here...I don't see the big deal get over it. Sucks when the shoe is on the other foot doesn't it? I hate some of the PC crap too (that's why I call myself black I'm not an African-American, I'm Black and from America [go back to Africa? sorry, never been can't afford it] - I'll accept Black-American) but you can't have the problems in this country with race relations and act like everything is all apple pie, rainbows and the 'ol red, white and blue. I'm tired of far left liberals and far right conservatives, because reality is probably somewhere in the middle. All that being said, they shouldn't have fired the guy though. A suspension without pay for an indefinite period would've sufficed.

By: PJ

PJ — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 18:33:47 +0000

I think that everybody needs to slow down and take a minute to think about the number of times that they have said things that have been taken out of context. The papers are giving you two lines form Larryâs whole show and prosecuting him on that alone. Heâs been doing this job for a long time and has said many compliments about Alou and the âCaribbean playersâ. Correct me if I wrong, but it seems to me if he had said something like, "those American players" nobody would have anything to say about it. And the Cream of Wheat comment, please. I am an American whom has been eating Cream of Wheat for as far back as I can remember and it is plainly obvious to anyone whose brain isnât mush â that there is no racial slur there!

Toughen up people!!!

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:23:32 +0000

The fact is that the comments were offensive, maybe
not to some of you, but they were racist and without foundation. As couple of people pointed out look at the stats - the Giants suck, but not because of the carribean or latin players. Also look at different stat categories and the top players of those categories. Surprise! a very large percentage are from the carribean/latin america. Also for those of you that are talking about freedom of speech, can you go to a crowded place (i.e. a baseball stadium) and yell there is a bomb? (You can but you probably go to jail.) The moral... don't say every stupid thing that come to you head... Caribbean players are among the best in the MLB, people need to stop talking crap about them. If an individual sucks call that person out, bnot a whole region. DC

By: Jerome Love

Jerome Love — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 16:55:09 +0000

How would you like growing up and finding out that the only Blacks advertised were buck wheat, aunt Jemimah, Uncle Ben and the Man on the cream of wheat box? Can you imagine being in an all black Market and having only Betty Crocker and the man on the oat meal box as representatives of your race?
As I grew up, stereotypes prevailed.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:34:58 +0000

The caribbean and in special the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC has given some of the best baseball players ever seen. For you to remember some of them:Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, Moises Alou, Pedro MArtinez, Juan Marichal, Vladimir Guerrero, Jose Mesa, Miguel Tejada, the big PAPI David Ortiz, Luis Castillo, Jose Reyes and many others have given a lot of joys in this sport so i do not understand why they are treated like that when it is well known that (WE) caribbeans have demonstrated that we are not dead-brain hitters if any doubt check these guys' stats. byyyeee. racists...

By: Richman

Richman — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 09:25:17 +0000

And yet,......The Giants still suck!

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 09:19:48 +0000

It seems a little redundant that we take offense to a comment about one race or another. What if he said Pollocks? I'm sure no one would go "overboard". Besides, what are we really saying. We as a country will travel overseas to slaughter Arabs because they are of a different religion. Can Arabs play baseball?

By: Beatle

Beatle — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 05:43:04 +0000

I am taken aback at Phillipe's refusal to accept, or even bother to listen to, Larry Krueger's apology... As a Christian man, I have been taught to forgive others transgressions. Krueger's comments were insensitive, at best... They require an apology. More so, Alou has an opportunity to show that he is the better man by simple forgiveness.

By: Skip Smith

Skip Smith — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 16:19:01 +0000

Hey Bill:

>>"Does the article also discuss the âbrain-deadâ qualities of latin players? I noticed you left that part off of your quote. Thatâs sort of the offensive part, isnât it Skip."

Sure, if you're a hysterical PC-Nazi.

If you swing at bad pitches, radio talk show hosts are entitled to call you "brain-dead."

>>"And maybe itâs easy for you to say that they should STFU, but you donât have to listen to the garbage directed at you every day. And maybe itâs easy for you to blow off the Cream of Wheat business, but that probably doesnât impact you either."

You seriously think there are anti-Caribbeanists out there hassling people every day? And that the Cream of Wheat comment had anything to do with race?

This blog is getting terrible, with brain-dead non-Carribeans posting slop nightly. Bill, your mind has turned to Cream of Wheat.

Now please report me to the NAACP for reeducation.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 14:15:06 +0000

I am making my comments mainly to Bill who made
comments on August 7, 2005 around 22:54, but they
are to everyone in general. We in this country have become spineless weasels. You Bill are the racist. Saying that a WHITE sports talk radio host
cannot criticize a black or a latin player is ridiculous. Most of the time they do not criticize because of there race but of there actions, but I guess atheletes do not do anything wrong in this world.

One more thing, If atheletes and coaches cannot take the criticisms given by the media, they should get out of the business, at my job I criticized everyday. Bill I think you are an idiot and HAve a Nice Day!

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 07:41:07 +0000

How many times have you heard talk radio hosts say that European Basketball players are ruining the NBA? Larry Krueger's remarks were not racist, last time I checked the Carribean was a bunch of islands, not a race.

Now Larry has been fired. After the statements that Alou made on ESPN's Outside the Lines Monday night, I regret that I will not be renewing my Giants season tickets. Of course it dosen't help that this ball club is going nowhere except right towards a 100 loss season.

Not even BALCO could save them now.

Time to rebuild with some younger talent, why not start with the teams manager.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 01:14:03 +0000

Krueger's been on the air in the SF Bay Area for 8 years. He is NOT a racist, at least from what I've ever heard. What he was trying to say is that there is an aggressive style of baseball practiced in the Caribbean where batters swing instead of taking pitches outside the strike zone. (I'm not enough of a fan to know how true this is.) He said it badly. His point was that ball players in the majors need to take pitches. I do believe that Felipe Alou is truly angry, and considering what he had to suffer during his days in the minors, I can understand his reaction although I think he is misinformed and owes it to himself to go back and look at the transcripts of the show. I've got my questions about the motives behind why this has been amplified in the media. Krueger is a fan as well as a radio talk show host. This year the Giants suck and Krueger has been pretty constant in his criticism, although more with the management's failure to produce players in their farm system rather than the current roster, exposed as aging and very mediocre without Barry Bonds in the lineup. I am sure that the Giants front office would have welcomed Krueger's firing. Racism is the big secret of America. When these things erupt, the great divide between how whites and those members of oppressed minorities view incidents like this emerges. At best, some whites have an intellectual understanding of evils of racism, not the emotions of the oppressed. But Krueger's not a racist.

By: Just

Just — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:38:49 +0000

My take:

Larry is a professional broadcaster.

I believe when he made the "Caribbean and Cream of Wheat" remarks, he did not use them with the intend to hate or hurt based on racial. More like a guy madly shouting insults or madly swing a hammer around.

Since it wasn't premeditated insult:

1. I believe Alou should gave him the benefit of doubt and accept his apology.

2. But Larry is a professional, he ought to be fired for his action. ie how can a carpenter who uses the hammer as tool of trade,going around madly swinging the hammer?

Larry did not come across as a racist but as an undisciplined broadcaster. Therefore he should be punished as a racist but as an undisciplined broadcaster.

My take.

By: mysteryatlarge

mysteryatlarge — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:34:45 +0000

I'm a KNBR fan. I'm a Larry Krueger fan. He screwed up and he needs to face the music, and I completely agree with this. BUT... I don't know how many of you actually heard the entire show, or even bothered to ask about it, but I did. Krueger also defended Alou to no end based on the team the Giants front office gave to him. Then the guy goes to the ballpark and wants to apologize in person, after first apologizing on the air before anybody ever made a stink. Alou says NO WAY. So does the rest of the team. I know Alou has faced some real adversity in his day but heres a guy stepping up to the plate and standing up to his mistakes, taking it like a man, and all the Giants have to say is 'we're not interested.' So, Giants, being a charter seat holder in your glorious ballpark, why don't you get off your high horses, let the poor guy fess up to his mistakes, and move on, or I can go become an A's fan where at least they can call a spade a spade, aplogize, shake hands, and move on. You can hate this guy if you want, but TRY ACTING LIKE MEN like he's trying to do, agree to disagree if thats where your heads are at, and get past it! Quite honestly I watch this team swing at crap day in and day out (as I write this in fact), but its not about that. Just one guy and a bad choice of words. Try judging the guy on his entire body of work, which is EXTENSIVE and generally extremely supportive of the Giants and ALL their players. Nobody comes to his side when he says how great you all are, but you crucify him the first time a mistake comes out of his mouth. Granted, he's a professional, and I hope he learns from this. But I'm tired of the barrage of negativity about this guy when most of the people talking never heard what he said to begin with. I'm italian. I get called a whop but I take it in stride, because I'm proud of who I am. Maybe the rest of the world can take a lesson. This is ridiculous.