Cardinals announcer Chip Caray had perhaps the worst kind of slip-up a broadcaster could have.
Midway through the top of the fourth inning of Saturday’s matchup between the Cardinals and Reds, Caray, the play-by-play man on the FanDuel Sports Network, accidentally said a homophobic slur while doing an ad read.
The St. Louis announcer was reading a promo for the team’s upcoming Disability Pride Night, which takes place on July 10 against the Nationals, and fans will take home a Cardinals cap featuring the Disability Pride flag and braille lettering of the team name.
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While reading the ad, Caray unintentionally said the slur while trying to say a different word for the promo.
What happened next, however, made the blunder even more awkward.
Thirty-one seconds of dead silence in the broadcasting booth followed Caray’s slip-up before commentator Brad Thompson finally broke it to comment on a pitch that was called a ball.
Front Office Sports reported, citing sources, that Caray will not be suspended and that he made an “honest” mistake.
A Cardinals spokesperson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that what Caray said was “unintentional.”
Caray, who has been announcing since 1987, started doing play-by-play for the Cardinals in 2023, with his grandfather, Harry, calling games for St. Louis for over 20 years.
Caray’s father, Skip, was a longtime baseball broadcaster, most known for calling Braves games until his death in 2008.
Last season, Caray teamed up with Joe Buck to announce a Cardinals-Rangers game, with the ESPN voice having nothing but praise for the 60-year-old.
“Broadcasters get real territorial and Chip was the opposite of that,” Buck said during an appearance on on “Total Information A.M.” then. “He flung the doors open. My wife, my little boys, everybody was welcomed and he does not need to be that way.”
“He’s a rarity in this business. I like to think I’m the same way, and I know my dad (Jack Buck) was, but those little things go a long way. To know he’s there to root for me tonight, I’m there rooting for him and we’re there to have a good time together, it makes all the difference in the world.
“It was not that way when I started when I was ironically filling in one time and working with Ken Wilson and I think there was a little bit of friction there.”