On This Date in Sports July 25, 1990
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Roseanne Barr gives a screechy performance of the Star Spangled Banner before a game between the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds at Jack Murphy Stadium. Tom Werner who produced several television shows including “Roseanne” had recently purchased the Padres. The tongue and cheek performance of the National Anthem was not well received at it was roundly criticized as it was widely replayed in all media platforms.
The 1990 season was one of transition for the San Diego Padres, as the team that had been run by Joan Kroc since the death of her husband Raymond A. Kroc in 1984 sold the team to Hollywood Producer Tom Werner. Werner had been behind the production of several of the biggest shows on television at the time, including the “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne”.
After battling the San Francisco Giants until the end of the 1989 season, the Padres entered the 1990 season with high expectations, bolstered by the acquisition of Joe Carter from the Cleveland Indians, for prospects Sandy Alomar Jr, Carlos Baerga and Chris James. However, the Padres scuffled all season leading General Manager Jack McKeon, who was also serving as manager to hand over the reins of the field to Greg Riddoch.
Looking to cross-promote the Padres, with his television properties, Tom Werner decided to invite Roseanne Barr down to San Diego as part of Working Women at the Ballpark night as San Diego hosted the Cincinnati Reds in a twi-night doubleheader. After winning the opener 2-1 behind the solid pitching of Ed Whitson, the Padres called upon Roseanne to do her performance before the nightcap. The whole thing was meant as a joke from the start as she was encouraged to bring humor to the National Anthem. However, when Roseanne completed the screeching off-key performance by grabbing her crotch and spitting, nobody was laughing, as a chorus of boos rained down from the crowd at Jack Murphy Stadium. In the day’s following her performance, Roseanne Barr was lambasted from all directions, as players on the Padres like Bip Roberts spoken openly about how it was disrespectful to the fans in San Diego, many of which were current or former members of the military. While President George Bush called it disgraceful, as video of the performance went viral even in the days before the internet.
The Padres would go on to complete a sweep of the doubleheader with a 10-4 win, as Tony Gwynn had four hits and Mike Pagliarulo had five RBI in the nightcap. Despite the doubleheader sweep, the Padres with a record of 41-54 remained 18 games behind the Reds, who led the Western Division from wire-to-wire and went on to win the World Series. Following the season Jack McKeon would be relieved of his duties as General Manager. The years that Tom Werner owned the team was not successful for the Padres as the team struggled after and had a major fire sale during the 1993 season. He would eventually sell the team to computer executive John Moores in 1994, during the baseball strike. Werner was not finished with baseball, as he was a large part of the group along with John Henry and Larry Lucchino that purchased the Boston Red Sox in 2001 and has owned the team ever since.