Claim: Nightline anchor Ted Koppel went off on longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis for the racist implications of his remarks which got Campanis fired after the interview.
Evidence: Campanis is most famous for his position as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1968 to 1987, from which he was fired on April 8, 1987, as a result of controversial remarks regarding blacks in baseball made during an interview on Nightline two days earlier. Nightline anchorman Ted Koppel asked him why, at the time, there had been few black managers and no black general managers in Major League Baseball. Campanis' reply was that blacks "may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager" for these positions. Koppel also pointed out that much of what Campanis was saying "sounds a lot like the garbage we heard 40 years ago." Campanis was fired less than 48 hours later.