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The Giants dedicated their public address booth to Renel Brooks-Moon, but with no announcement or fanfare.
When the Giants severed ties with the popular Brooks-Moon in March 2024, the team said in a news release that it would dedicate the Oracle Park PA booth to her in the first half of the 2024 season.
It didn’t happen. The followup plan was for the dedication to come early this season. That did happen, albeit in silence.
The newly ordained Renel Brooks-Moon PA booth, now contains a plaque placed on a wall honoring the announcer’s 24 groundbreaking years on the job.
The plaque went up in time for the Giants’ April 4 home opener, the Giants told The Standard, though it wasn’t known publicly.
“It was the important thing and the right thing that we honored her,” said Shana Daum, the Giants’ senior vice president of communications and community relations. “Her legacy lives on in many ways, including through the naming of the PA booth.”
Shortly after Brooks-Moon’s departure, Giants CEO Larry Baer said she’d be honored at a game with the naming of the PA booth, but that never materialized.
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The Giants gave her the title of PA announcer emeritus and she was invited to team reunions and ceremonies. But Brooks-Moon didn’t attend because she didn’t feel welcomed, according to a friend, who said missing this year’s home opener was particularly hard on her as the Giants celebrated the 25-year anniversary of their 2000 team.
Brooks-Moon, who wasn’t planning to attend a private booth dedication, declined to comment for this story.
The plaque mentions that Brooks-Moon debuted on April 11, 2000, as “one of the first Black female public address announcers in Major League Baseball. Thus began an iconic 24-year career that left an indelible mark on Giants history.”
It also notes that Brooks-Moon was the “voice of the Giants” for three World Series championships, the Barry Bonds home runs records, and a “multitude of historical events both on and off the field. She welcomed generations of Giants fans and visitors to Oracle Park.”
There’s also a quote from Brooks-Moon: “It is my great hope that my time in the booth has inspired little girls, young women and people of color to pursue their dreams even if those dreams seem impossible, because impossible dreams can come true.”
Since leaving the Giants, Brooks-Moon has been highly active including broadcasting for the popular video game “MLB The Show.” She was honored as woman of the year on the California Assembly floor and recognized by the Senate with a resolution for her trailblazing past and community service. She was inducted into the Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, winning the Mensch Award, and received the Media Award from the Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame.
She emceed events hosted by the Institute on Aging, Futures Without Violence, Equal Rights Advocates, Children’s Council of San Francisco, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area. She received a key to the city from then-San Francisco Mayor London Breed, spoke at the celebration of life for the Rev. Cecil Williams, and emceed the celebration of life for Rickey Henderson.
Brooks-Moon has moved from the Bay Area, but is visiting this week for an event honoring former Mayor Willie Brown.