Alou regrets firings, but stands by his principles

ATLANTA – While saying he regrets the firing of three radio station employees, San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou wouldn’t back down Wednesday from his condemnation of racially tinged comments directed at him and his players.

“I feel bad about people being fired,” Alou said before a game against the Atlanta Braves. “It wasn’t my intention, but I didn’t start it and I took a stand.”

The Giants’ flagship station, KNBR, fired talk-show host Larry Krueger, who ranted about the struggling team during his postgame radio show last week. He complained about too many “brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly” and said Alou’s “mind has turned to Cream of Wheat.”

Krueger apologized and initially was suspended for a week without pay. The station announced in a brief statement Tuesday night that the host had been fired, along with program manager Bob Agnew and KNBR Morning Show producer Tony Rhein.

Tony Salvadore, KNBR’s vice president and general manager, said the firings were related to “inappropriate comedy sound bytes” played Tuesday morning during a discussion of Alou’s recent interview with ESPN, in which he roundly criticized KNBR and Krueger.

Alou resigned from his regular radio show with the station and warned his players to be on the lookout for racial prejudice in San Francisco.