Buster Posey's unpopularity was on full display during a live interview on the Giants' flagship radio station, KNBR, when an unnamed producer was caught on a hot mic voicing his opinion off-camera.
The awkward moment came after what had otherwise been a routine appearance Thursday morning on KNBR's weekly Giants executive show, where Buster Posey, the team’s president of baseball operations, spent about 25 minutes discussing the team's recent draft picks, the August 3 trade deadline, and expressing confidence in first-year manager Tony Vitello despite the Giants’ 41-55 record, as SFGate reports.
The appearance reportedly marked Posey's first return to KNBR since the fallout over the Giants' Pride Night controversy in which three pitchers defaced their LGBTQ-themed caps and a fourth pitcher refused to wear his altogether, arguing they went against their Christian values, as SFist reported previously.
Posey canceled a scheduled June 25 interview with the station at the last minute after reportedly declining to answer reporters' questions during a June 23 news conference, with Giants CEO Larry Baer taking his place instead.
Posey's refusal to answer questions or apologize over the controversy has further soured fans on the Giants amid an already disappointing season, and meanwhile Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has said the Giants were to blame for not properly communicating the uniform policy to the pitchers.
According to SFGate, on the radio show, as hosts Murphy and Markus Boucher recapped Posey's interview before a commercial break, a producer performing what appeared to be a microphone check could reportedly be heard in the background, saying, “Test.”
“Yeah, I hear ya, I gotcha,” he continues. “I gotcha 100%.”
Followed by, “Posey sucks, man.”
Neither host acknowledged the comment on-air, but when the show returned, a caller immediately brought up the hot mic. Murphy responded that they would “do an investigation behind the scenes,” while Boucher joked they may have been “hacked” or that it was “some of that AI BS.”
KNBR reportedly removed the exchange from the archived audio and replaced the YouTube video with an edited version that cuts off before the hot mic moment, but not before the incident quickly spread online.
Sports and culture site Defector notes that prior to the tense moment, the initial interview was dull and unfocused. The author singles out Posey's word choice when he called the Giants’ performance “confounding,” noting that's not the kind of explanation frustrated fans want to hear from the executive who built the roster, particularly before he reiterated his support for Vitello.
Related: Self-Described 'Christian' Homophobes In Giants' Bullpen Deface Pride Night Hats
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
