Hunter Wendelstedt

Harry Hunter Wendelstedt III

• Height 6' 1", Weight 220 lbs.

• Born June 22, 1971 in Atlanta, GA USA

Biographical Information

Hunter Wendelstedt has been a major league umpire since 1998, when he joined the National League staff. He is the son of former big league ump Harry Wendelstedt and also took over the role of chief instructor at the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School from his father. He and his father were both umpires in 1998, the last year before his dad retired, and they worked games together that year, the first and only times a father and a son have been part of the same crew.

He was born in Atlanta, GA on the same day that his father umpired a Montréal Expos-Atlanta Braves game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

He worked second-round games in the 2017 World Baseball Classic­. He worked the 2011 All-Star Game and 2014 World Series in addition to a large number of other postseason games.

In an afternoon game at New Yankee Stadium on April 23, 2024, he was involved in a bizarre incident. Five pitches into the game, Oakland Athletics leadoff hitter Esteury Ruiz was grazed on the foot by a pitch from Carlos Rodon of the New York Yankees. He declared a hit-by-pitch to which Yankees manager Aaron Boone objected, claiming that Ruiz had swung at the pitch. Wendelstedt checked with first base umpire John Tumpane, who confirmed the call, but the whole exchange was captured by field level microphones, and Wendelstedt was clearly heard saying to Boone "You got anything else to say, you’re gone, OK?" as Boone retreated to the dugout, making a sign that he had understood. Then before another pitch could be thrown, Wendelstedt heard something coming from the Yankees dugout and immediately tossed out Boone, who protested strongly that it wasn't him who spoken. Indeed, television replays clearly identified a fan sitting in the front row above the dugout as the culprit, but Wendelstedt would not go back on his decision, and Boone had to leave the game. This was clearly a case where Boone's reputation as a chronic complainer had got the best of him, even if he was not guilty of the particular offense that had gotten him ejected.

Further Reading

• Bryan Hoch: "Boone ejected just 5 pitches into game against A's", mlb.com, April 22, 2024. [1]

Related Sites

• Hunter Wendelstedt on Retrosheet.org