The Chicago White Sox have had as frustrating of a season as any MLB team in recent memory, essentially serving as the laughing stock of the league with a 31-108 record on the year. And Tuesday’s game was much of the same, which led to players, managers, and broadcasters alike losing their cool on home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.
By the time White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi came to the plate in the top of the sixth inning, they were already down 9-0 in the game. So spirits weren’t exactly at an all-time high.
Then, Wendelstedt decided to call a breaking ball that was well above the zone a strike, which set off interim manager Grady Sizemore. Moments after the strike call, Sizemore began to seemingly shout at Wendelstedt, which got his attention and ultimately a quick ejection.
On the call of the ejection, White Sox play-by-play broadcaster John Schriffen largely understood Sizemore’s frustrations, sharing his assessment that it had been a “bad night” for Hunter Wendelstedt behind the plate.
“That’s it,” said Schriffen. “Grady Sizemore has been tossed and he is hot. He’s said two nights in a row you are squeezing the strike zone of my guys. And you know what, Grady is right. It’s been a bad night for Hunter Wendelstedt.”
Things would only escalate even further when Benintendi would strike out looking on a pitch that also appeared to be outside of the zone, which he took exception to and was also later tossed for. On this ejection, Schriffen had much less of a filter, letting his feelings be known about Wendelstedt.
“Of course, of course he is,” said Schriffen. “And now Benintendi is now tossed. Hunter, you are just bad. You are just bad. Like, where are these automatic umps?”
Just about everyone involved in the at-bat, including Sizemore, Benintendi, and Schriffen, are completely justified in their response to the clearly blown calls from Wendelstedt.
And to back them up, former White Sox manager turned studio analyst Ozzie Guillén brought up his past gripes with Wendelstedt on the NBC Sports Chicago postgame show, taking it even farther.
“I wish I punched him in the face,” said Guillén. “He’s the first guy to kick me out of a game in the big leagues, with no reason. His dad, he was a legend. I said, ‘You know what? You’re not a pimple on your daddy’s behind. I told him that. Because he kicked me out running out onto the field. He kicked me out of the game. Like, wait a minute. Don’t live on your daddy’s name. I spent more years in the big leagues than you. I think the call made today… I never argue with a call in TV. But obviously, with the uniform on, I did it almost every day. The calls made today were horrible.”
Frank Thomas then shared his opinion on the call, arguing that the calls were made because Wendelstedt wanted to speed the game up since it was a blowout. This further frustrated Guillén, who made things even more personal with Wendelstedt.
“The guy is bad. “Look at how fat he is. He should be embarrassed to wear that uniform,” Guillén added.
Obviously, Ozzie Guillén’s comments go far beyond the game of baseball. But given his track record of speaking his mind throughout this disastrous season so far, it’s far from unexpected.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.