It was a fearsome minor league matchup, a doubleheader pitting the El Paso Chihuahuas against the home team, the mighty mighty Fresno Grizzlies.

The Chihuahuas team name was selected in a contest, and we think it’s better that the name Aardvarks did not win. Aardvarks aren’t American. We’ll get to the history of the Grizzlies’ team name later.

In the first game, the Chihuahuas shouldered the Grizzlies aside, winning 3 to 2. Time for between-game entertainment! There may have been music. There may have been a marching band. There may have been a dancing taco. (We’ll get to that later.) We don’t know, because all anyone can talk about is the video that was played.

This video had been posted on YouTube a few days earlier, titled “Reagan – Memorial Day Tribute – We are Americans.” Three and a half minutes long, it features Ronald Reagan’s voice, some music that a YouTube commenter said “was lifted from Fantasy Flight Games’ Road to Legend app”, and some reasonably well-edited still images that have been given Ken-Burnsian slow pans and zooms.

For three minutes, it’s inoffensive, though some of the choices seem odd.

Reagan gasses on about prosperity, the dignity of the individual, and the price of freedom. Then he turns to “the enemies of freedom.” He doesn’t get more specific than “those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.” He warns “those who are potential adversaries” that although “peace is the highest aspiration of the American people,” and we will “negotiate for it, sacrifice for it – We will NOT surrender for it, now or ever.” Fine.

But the images around the words “potential adversaries” are not ones Reagan could have approved. We see a masked protester with a watch cap labeled ANTIFA. Then Kim Jong-Un. Then, right with the words “potential adversaries,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), representative of New York’s 14th congressional district. Then Fidel Castro. Then some protesters with anarchy symbols, carrying signs the most prominent of which says “NO TRUMP NO KKK NO FASCIST USA.” Then some Antifa marchers.

Then some shots of Reagan at different ages and thank goodness the thing is over. It’s a muddled and vicious choice of “enemies”/ “potential adversaries.” Can we just note that Fidel Castro is dead? So not potentially an adversary, unless y’all know something about the afterlife we don’t. Kim Jong-Un is alive, but the current president claims to be in love with him.

Antifa and anarchist protesters are not terrorists, but citizens exercising freedom of speech. It’s worth noting that in the earlier war scenes there was nothing that identified who we were fighting against – no swastikas, no mention of fascism or Nazism. That means the only mention of fascism in the video is the anarchist’s sign that says “NO FASCIST USA.” If our “potential enemies” are against fascism, does that mean the video supports it?

The worst of it all is the image of AOC, a democratically elected representative. How is she a “potential enemy”? Because she’s a prominent member of the Democratic party, apparently. Maybe because she’s a woman. (And photogenic.)

So this is a piece of dull patriotism that suddenly morphs into confused, politically twisted, ugly partisan bile. Not the kind of thing that the public expects to be subjected to between games.

People were outraged. Some took it to social media. The Fresno Grizzlies hurried to calm things down. “We are aware of the problem with the Memorial Day tribute video shown in the ballpark between games of Monday’s double-header,” they began.

A pre-produced video from outside our front office was selected; unfortunately what was supposed to be a moving tribute ended with some misleading and offensive editing, which made a statement that was not our intent and certainly not our opinion.

We apologize to our fans and to our community for the error and for not properly vetting the video. We also apologize to those who have served and are currently serving our country for the undue distraction on such a solemn day.

Then:

We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first. We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) in addition to our fans, community and those we hurt. It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.

AOC was not happy. “What people don’t (maybe do) realize is when orgs air these hateful messages, my life changes bc of the flood of death threats they inspire,” she tweeted. “I‘ve had mornings where I wake up & the 1st thing I do w/ my coffee is review photos of the men (it’s always men) who want to kill me.”

Some Grizzlies sponsors didn’t want to be associated with this fiasco. Heineken withdrew sponsorship of their brands Tecate and Dos Equis. Sun-Maid Raisins did too, and that has to hurt in the raisin-producing epicenter that is Fresno – why, in Fresno’s illustrious minor league past, going back to 1898, the local team has been the Fresno Suns, the Fresno Giants, the Fresno Sun Sox, the Fresno Cardinals, and the Fresno Raisin Eaters.

After a day or two, the team got more specific:

The Fresno Grizzlies once again apologize for a video shown in our ballpark… What was supposed to be a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country was overshadowed by a grievous error for which we are truly sorry. The criticism we have received is deserved.

The video was not produced, created or commissioned by the Fresno Grizzlies. It was carelessly taken from YouTube. There are multiple versions of this video available on the internet, the version that our employee selected contained offensive content. The airing of the video in the ballpark was the result of an unintentional oversight by an employee who did not view the video in its entirety. The employee responsible has been reprimanded by the organization.

We understand the dangers and ramifications of what was shown. We have publicly apologized to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. Regardless of your political viewpoint, we believe that all people who dedicate their lives to public service deserve respect.

We fully acknowledge that nothing we say at this point can take back the harm and pain that this has caused. We have implemented new internal protocols to ensure that this never happens again.

Team president Derek Franks told the Fresno Bee that the person who picked the video wasn’t pushing an ideology. They just bungled massively. Franks said another, almost identical, version had been used before. This time the employee watched only two minutes, figured it was the same old same old, and cued it up.

Franks said he wants to rebuild community trust, but thinks it’ll take work. “This isn’t a slap-on-the-wrist-and-let’s-move-on thing.”

SorryWatch wasn’t happy with the first round of apologies. It was mysterious, leaving everyone guessing who, precisely, wanted to send that weird ugly message. It fails our Apology Checklist because it doesn’t explain what is being apologized for. Was it incompetence? Was it sending an ugly partisan message to people who aren’t ugly partisans? Who vetted it? Who did the “misleading and offensive editing”?

So we’re glad of the explanation in the apology Franks gave to the Bee. Though we do think that tweeting is an inadequate ‘public apology’ to AOC, so we hope they also apologized to her privately.

We’re fairly certain the next time the Grizzlies grab a video off YouTube they’ll watch it all the way to the end – no matter how boring it is – before they broadcast it. So as not to be an “undue distraction” on a solemn day.

Which is also a distraction from the important news that the Fresno Grizzlies regularly morph into the Fresno Tacos.

Perhaps for similar reasons, the Chihuahuas regularly become the El Paso Margaritas.

In the second game, by the way, the Chihuahuas tore the Grizzlies to bits, winning 6 to 1.

Thanks to Ron L.