During the New York Yankees' 16-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, WEEI radio play-by-play man Will Flemming made controversial remarks about Jazz Chisholm Jr. and suggested a Red Sox pitcher "drill" Austin Wells for Chisholm stealing two bases while the Yankees led by six runs in the eighth inning.
Felmming called Chisholm a "bush league" player and said, "he plays the game the wrong way." Flemming apologized on X, but Chisholm still had to get his thoughts in.
"They’re called unwritten rules because you’re not really breaking any rules,” Chisholm said on Monday, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner. “You’ve seen teams — actually them (last season) — do the same thing where they’re pouring on runs. We didn’t have nothing to say or nothing to do about it.
“That’s just showing how unprofessional he is.”
The unwritten rules of baseball are a controversial topic themself. Stealing bases with a big lead in the eighth inning is often frowned upon, and the old-school baseball mentality is to intentionally hit a batter to send a message. However, the Red Sox were not holding Chisholm on, and Aaron Boone reportedly was not going to have Chisholm steal until he saw that. In fact, according to Kirschner, he even yelled across the dugout to Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy about that.
Chisholm, who has not had a season that lives up to his expectations or the standard he has set for himself, is starting to get hot at the plate. He is not overly concerned about his critics.
“I didn’t even know who that was until this morning,” Chisholm said of Flemming. “And I’m still not going to remember who he is after today.”