Hunter Wendelstedt
Harry Hunter Wendelstedt III (born June 22, 1971 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a baseball umpire who has worked in the National League in 1998-1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2000. His father Harry Hunter Wendelstedt, Jr. was an NL umpire from 1966 to 1998. Hunter Wendelstedt goes by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father.
Hunter attended Loyola University of New Orleans for two years, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Gamma Fraternity.
Hunter Wendelstedt had only worked in one postseason series prior to his appointment to the 2006 American League Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics, that being the 2003 National League Division Series.
As his career began just as his father was retiring, Hunter Wendelstedt wears the same number as his father did, 21.
For the 2011 season, Wendelstedt is assigned to Jerry Layne's Crew O along with Bob Davidson and Brian Knight.
On October 7, 2010, Wendelstedt ejected Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire from Game 2 of the American League Division Series after Gardenhire argued a pitch which appeared to be strike three to Lance Berkman. Wendelstedt ruled it a ball, and on the next pitch Berkman hit a double scoring two runs and putting the Yankees up 4-2 (they would ultimately win 5-2). It was at least the fourth time Wendelstedt has ejected Gardenhire. In 2005, Gardenhire was suspended one game and fined after delivering a profanity-laced rant about Wendelstedt, and in 2009, Wendelstedt suggested that Gardenhire should attend his umpiring school to "learn what a balk is," after ejecting Gardenhire for arguing a non-balk call. [1] This contentious history fueled questions about the appropriateness of Major League Baseball putting Wendelstedt on a post-season series involving Gardenhire, as there is precedent in baseball for avoiding such confrontations, most notably the American League removing umpire Ron Luciano from games involving the Baltimore Orioles due to a long history of bad blood between the umpire and Orioles manager Earl Weaver. [2]
Wendelstedt has often been the subject of criticism about his seemingly inconsistent strike zone, most recently in the aforementioned game on October 7, 2010. [3]
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