Clydesdales president apologizes for canceled charity baseball event

Following the unexpected cancellation of a “comedy-style baseball game” scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, at Capaha Field, the team's president issued a statement apologizing for the decision.

John Aebischer, president of the St. Louis Clydesdales First Responder Baseball Team, said he was “aware of some issues behind the scenes with the event being scheduled over Labor Day Weekend,” but didn’t believe it warranted cancellation.

“First, I want to apologize to the entire Cape Girardeau community, the City of Cape Girardeau, and the first responder community of Cape Girardeau. What the Clydesdale organization did to your community was disrespectful, unethical, and unprofessional,” Aebischer said in a news release. “To summarize our mission statement, this organization was formed not only to participate in athletic events but to help other first responder charities raise funds and aid in the mental health of first responders. What makes this worse is that we deprived our brothers and sisters in Cape Girardeau of some much-needed funding.”

Proceeds from Saturday’s game were to be donated to the Cape Girardeau Public Safety Foundation, which benefits local police and other first responders.

Aebischer said neither he nor those assisting from the City of Cape Girardeau were consulted on the decision to cancel the event. He said he was unaware of the decision until late Tuesday night, Aug. 27, after it was made, but ultimately accepts responsibility.

“The obvious solution in this scenario would have been to postpone and reschedule, not completely cancel the event,” Aebischer said. “Despite not being the one who decided to cancel the Backyard Baseball Showdown, as president of this organization, I take full responsibility for what happened.”

Aebischer said the Clydesdales are “disappointed that (they) didn’t get to see this project through to completion.”

"Everyone I’ve been in contact with at the City of Cape Girardeau has been great to work with,” he said. “... I’m optimistic that one day, we will be invited to return to The City of Roses and put on the event as originally planned. In reality, it’s about raising money for the Cape Girardeau Public Safety Foundation.”