Bud Selig talks to White Sox announcer following on-air rant
Bud Selig, major league baseball's commissioner, spoke with White Sox television announcer Ken Harrelson on Thursday about Harrelson's on-air outburst on Wednesday. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig spoke with television announcer Ken Harrelson on Thursday about his on-air rant against umpire Mark Wegner, reported ESPNChicago on Friday:
"I talked to Bud Selig yesterday," Harrelson told ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine on Friday morning. "We had a talk. Actually, Bud talked and I listened. If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it in the first round.
According to the report, Harrelson also confirmed that he spoke with Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, but wouldn't go into details. Harrelson will talk about the incident during Friday's broadcast when the Sox play the Seattle Mariners.
Wegner ejected Jose Quintana, the White Sox rookie pitcher, for throwing a pitch behind Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist in the fourth inning of the Sox 4-3 win. Harrelson then went on a rant while Sox manager Robin Ventura was tossed for protesting:
"What are you doing? He threw him out of the ballgame, you've got to be bleepin' me! What in the hell are you doing? What are you doing Wegner? You got to be kidding me. That is so bad, that is absolutely brutal. That is unbelievable.
According to the report, Brooks Boyer, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN, the company that employs Harrelson, said that the outburst will not happen again:
"I could certainly be wrong but I think this was a good way for him to understand the importance of what's going on on the field," Boyer said. "I think moving forward those type of bursts and snaps will be limited if not eliminated."
