Boston Red Sox radio announcer Will Flemming admitted he crossed a line after suggesting Red Sox pitcher Jovani Morán should have fought New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The comments were made during the bottom of the eighth inning on Sunday with the Yankees leading the Red Sox 7-1; New York eventually defeated Boston 16-1.
Video of Flemming’s remarks went viral online Monday morning, leading to an intense backlash from social media users and the Red Sox broadcaster’s subsequent apology Monday afternoon.
Flemming’s issue with Chisholm stemmed from the second baseman stealing second base and third base in the inning after initially drawing a leadoff walk against Moran — the Red Sox announcer team claimed this broke an “unwritten rule” because New York was leading by six runs.
The announcer first suggested that Moran should hit Yankees catcher Austin Wells, who was in the batter’s box at the time, with his next pitch in retaliation. When Chisholm scored on a Wells home run later in the at-bat, Flemming said Morán should fight the Yankees star and that he “plays the game the wrong way.”
Chisholm, who moved to the United States at 12 years old after being born in the Bahamas, has been the recipient of criticism in the past because he plays and celebrates with a unique flair and energy you might not typically see in the sport.
To give one example of the Yankees second baseman’s personality: every time Chisholm hits a home run and circles the bases, he pretends as if he is holding a basketball and performs a euro step before touching home plate.
Multiple social media users called out Flemming for his verbal attack on Chisholm, including New York Knicks star Josh Hart, who is a huge Yankees fan.
“Yo @RedSox your idiotic announcer got to go,” Hart wrote on X.
“Imagine that. A Boston announcer attacking a black player for playing baseball,” X user @johncapps added in another tweet. “When all else fails, just revert to good old fashioned racism, Boston.”
“Lol baseball folks so funny,” X user @TreceDaKing wrote. “They get pissed when u pop up and don’t sprint to 1st (base) or they get pissed for continuing to play the game no matter the score lol wonder why that is and it’s always this type (of) rhetoric towards black/latin guys wonder why.”
Following the criticism for his remarks online, Flemming responded with an apology on his X account.
“Since I have been receiving nonstop calls and threats, I felt like it was important to hop back on here and say: My comments during yesterday’s broadcast crossed a line,” Flemming wrote. “I’m emotional and a fan at heart and that bled into the broadcast.”
“I meant no disrespect to the Yankees players or organization,” Flemming added. “I could and should have used different words. These rivalry games get me fired up; I apologize for letting the emotion of the moment get the best of me.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone disputed the entire basis of Flemming’s initial frustration on Monday in a phone call with longtime Yankees TV play-by-play broadcaster Michael Kay.
Boone said that he signaled to Red Sox manager Chad Tracy that he’d told Chisholm not to steal any bases after his leadoff walk, but after Tracy ignored him and did not have his players stand near the bases to hold Chisholm closer to the bag Boone then changed his mind since the game was still within six runs.
After the game, Boone said Tracy understood his decision and took the blame for putting the Yankees manager in a tough position based on Boston’s defensive alignment given the scoreboard at the time.
New York defeated Boston in three of the four games of their weekend series to open up a four-game lead between them in the standings. While both teams are likely to qualify for the postseason with roughly a month left in the regular season, the arch rivals are battling for the first wild card playoff spot, which would provide home-field advantage in a potential playoff matchup between the foes should the standings remain how they are right now.
Sunday’s lopsided win also gave New York a season-series tiebreaker advantage (7-6) over Boston should the teams be tied in the standings at end of regular season, meaning the Yankees would still host Boston to begin wild card round if the teams finish with identical records.
