Fox Sports denies selectively editing trans ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Amy Schneider out of Giants Pride Day broadcast – SFGATE
On Saturday, Oakland resident and trailblazing “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider threw out the first pitch at the Giants game for Pride Day. Schneider, who is transgender, had the second-longest winning streak in the show’s history.
Every player on the Giants and Dodgers wore Pride-themed caps, in what had to be a major relief for MLB after several Tampa Bay Rays players refused to participate in their team’s Pride Night, citing a “lifestyle … that maybe we don’t want to encourage.”
But while the team welcomed Schneider — and Dale Scott, the only MLB ump to come out as gay before retiring — there was one hiccup beyond their control.
The game aired on Fox, and the broadcast made it seem like NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, not Schneider, threw out the first pitch. Busch threw out the first pitch at Oracle Park two days earlier.
The edit was bizarre, and it immediately raised eyebrows.
“Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch,” said play-by-play announcer Adam Amin, neglecting to mention that the footage was from Thursday. “Of course, we’ve got the NASCAR race tomorrow coming up from Sonoma. You’ll see that on the Fox networks.”
Schneider and Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper responded over the weekend, while the network denies it selectively edited the footage to keep Schneider off the air.
“Well, that’s Fox for you,” Schneider said on Sunday, referring to Fox News’ relentless attacks on transgender people.
Kuiper noticed it, too. “I wanted to make a correction from what I watched yesterday on the Fox broadcast,” he said when the team returned to local TV Sunday. “The broadcast implied that Kurt Busch threw out the first pitch yesterday, which was not true. …
“It was Amy Schneider from ‘Jeopardy!’ fame who threw out the first pitch on Pride Day yesterday. So I just wanted to make sure she got her due.”
Fox says that it did not intend to slight Schneider, and that first pitches usually don’t make telecasts.
“On Saturday, as part of a promotional package for the weekend’s NASCAR race in northern California, we aired a taped first pitch of famed NASCAR driver Kurt Busch,” a Fox Sports spokesman told SFGATE. “This promotion was in no way meant to overshadow the ceremonial first pitch for the game as it is not routine for us to air.”
Schneider did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Giants directed all questions to Fox.