News surfaced Friday afternoon that the Angels’ rookie league team -- the Orem Owlz -- had scheduled a promotion called “Caucasian Heritage Night.” It didn’t take long for the event to be canceled, albeit in a strange apology from the team.
In the wake of the controversy, it was reported that Joey Zanaboni had resigned as director of media and communications, which also included play-by-play duties for the team. With such an embarrassing situation, Zanaboni has since spoken out in an effort to clear his name. According to Joe Holleman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Zanaboni just started his job on June 6 and tried to get the promotion canceled:“At first, honestly, I thought it was a joke, that they were pranking me,” Zanaboni said. “But then they sent me an actual printed schedule of promotions, and it was included.” The night was set for Aug. 10, he said.
“Not only did it offend me, but it was something I was sure would end up reflecting negatively on the team,” he said. “I talked to front-office people and even sent emails in an attempt to get them to reconsider.”
That obviously didn’t happen. In addition, Zanaboni said the release about canceling the event was made without his knowledge and he was told by the team to not make any further comment on the matter. This is when he made the decision to resign.
You can read his full statement here. Hopefully Zanaboni gets another opportunity somewhere soon.
