Former Giants public address announcer and Bay Area media legend Renel Brooks-Moon was honored by outgoing San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday with a key to the city.
Breed gave a tribute to Brooks-Moon in a ceremony in her office at City Hall. Dozens of Brooks-Moon’s family, friends — including five former Giants colleagues — were in attendance. Brooks-Moon’s Giants predecessor Sherry Davis, the first female public address announcer in MLB history, was also present at Friday’s ceremony.
Brooks-Moon was a beloved host on KMEL-FM for years before she became the voice of the Giants’ downtown San Francisco stadium when it opened in 2000. She remained the iconic voice of the ballpark for its first 24 years and grew to be involved in other ways with the Giants.
The team unceremoniously announced her departure from the job in a press release mid-March, less than two weeks before her 25th season was set to begin. The announcement said the decision came “mutually and amicably,” but several reports — including the initial one from the San Francisco Chronicle — emphasized that Brooks-Moon wanted to remain in the role. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) Some of Brooks-Moon’s friends even told the Chronicle they felt she was being “forced out” of the role.
In her speech, Breed recalled how she used to listen to Brooks-Moon on the radio before the two struck up a friendship that has lasted.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize who you are, what you’ve done and what you have meant to this city. Your legacy is cemented in San Francisco because you have been a trailblazer,” Breed said.
In a short speech after being presented the key, Brooks-Moon thanked her late parents, Nathaniel and Juanita, several times for moving to the city and instilling the values in her that she carries to this day. She specifically acknowledged Davis, and she also touched on her trying year with the Giants, with a few barbs and quips that were her trademark on the radio. It was clear the honor coming at the end of this year was extra-special for her.
“This is a fantastic and fabulous and moving way to end what has been very difficult and challenging year, as most of you all know,” Brooks-Moon said. “This is a real treat.”
The Giants had said they would honor Brooks-Moon with a ceremony this season to name the public address announcer booth after her, but that never happened. SFGATE asked the Giants about it in October and was told by Giants spokesperson Shana Daum that the ceremony had been delayed to 2025. The Giants used several different public address announcers throughout the 2024 season in what was effectively a monthslong tryout before hiring Carolyn McArdle as the permanent replacement in July.
Brooks-Moon has only made one public comment (via a social media post) since her departure, writing of her career, “Grateful doesn’t seem to be a big enough word.” Over the summer, California Assemblymember Matt Haney named her Woman of the Year in Assembly District 17 (the eastern half of SF). Congresswoman Barbara Lee also honored Brooks-Moon in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday afternoon, timing her short address to match the event in San Francisco.
Breed’s ceremony on Friday adds a final moment of connection for Brooks-Moon and Breed. When Breed was officially inaugurated as mayor back in 2018, Brooks-Moon was excused from that day’s Giants home game to be the emcee for Breed’s ceremony. Brooks-Moon also appeared at a campaign event for Breed during the 2024 mayoral race, which Breed lost to Levi Strauss heir and political newcomer Daniel Lurie.