Have we seen the last classic, over-the-top rant from White Sox announcer Ken Harrelson?
ESPNChicago’s Bruce Levine reports MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf had chats with Harrelson to discuss his reaction to umpire Mark Wegner during Wednesday’s Sox-Tampa Bay game.
Harrelson didn’t get into the details of the calls, other than they appeared to be one-sided. He said:
“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.
“I also talked to Jerry, and I listened to him as well. That’s all I really have to say.”
Clearly, Harrelson has been told he has to temper his emotions. From ESPNChicago:
Senior vice president of sales and marketing Brooks Boyer said Harrelson will talk about the outburst on Friday’s broadcast.
“He’s ultimately going to address it the way he feels it be best addressed,” Boyer said Friday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “We’ve discussed it, and we’ll talk about it on the air and it will be gone as of tonight.”
Boyer said an outburst like that won’t happen again from Harrelson.
“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.”