Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan’s Anti-Semitic Remarks Cost Him Game 1 Gig

Since 9/11, Irish tenor Ronan Tynan has been almost as synonymous to the Yankees as Monument Park and pinstripes, but during Friday night's Game 1 contest of the ALCS between the Yanks and the Angels at Yankee Stadium, Tynan was missing in action.

Tynan was benched by the ballclub after hearing of his anti-Semitic remarks — which he claimed were merely a joke — made toward a real estate agent and a potential buyer who were looking at a unit on the same floor in his East Side apartment building, NBC New York reports.

According to the Web site:

"The real estate agent said to the tenor, famous for his association with Yankees, 'Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans,' according to the apartment-hunter, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson.

"To which Tynan replied, 'I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish,' Gabrielle Gold-von Simson told NBC New York.

"'Why is that?' asked a flabbergasted Gold-von Simson of the singer.

"And Tynan responded that Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before and they were 'scary,' according to Gold-von Simson."

Tynan later apoligized to the pediatrician for the remark and told NBC: “I’m not anti-Semitic, and I have never been in my life. There are three members of my band that are Jewish. And I love them like brothers. I call them my brothers from another mother.”

"A lot of my friends are Jewish," added Tynan, who in addition to the apology, agreed to make a donation to Gold-von Simson's pediatric center. "It's something misfortunate, I was too stupid with my mouth."

The 49-year-old sang at former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's wedding as well as the 80th birthday party for former president George H.W. Bush.