The Wednesday matinee game between the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets saw a scary incident involving umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. Late in the game, Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor hit a pitch off Louis Varland that went foul along the first base line. Wendelstedt, who was standing near first base, tried to avoid the line drive, only to get struck in the side of the head.
Wendelstedt lay on the ground as he was attended to by other members of the umpiring crew and the medical staff of the Twins. Ultimately, Wendelstedt was removed from the game, with a towel held up to his head, and was taken to the hospital. Wendelstedt was replaced at first base by Adam Hamari.
After the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided an update on Wendelstedt, saying that the umpire is “fine” after getting struck by the foul ball. Mendoza said he asked about Wendelstedt after the game ended to see if he was okay.
Carlos Mendoza says that he’s heard that first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt is “fine” after being hit in the face by a line drive in today’s game pic.twitter.com/uvK8Jxuju3
https://twitter.com/SNYtv/status/1912603566813945872
“That was scary,” said Mendoza. “Briefly I asked as soon as the game was over. Every time you see something like that, it’s just scary. I’m glad he’s doing well.”
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Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ‘fine’ after getting hit in head by foul ball
That is certainly good news, considering how scary the incident looked when seeing it live during the broadcast.
After the game, crew chief Todd Tichenor revealed that Wendelstedt was speaking while he was on the field.
“I haven’t talked to him yet. He was coherent, speaking (on the field). It was great to hear him speaking,” said Tichenor, h/t The Athletic’s Tim Britton. “It made us all stop and think …. Hopefully it’s just some stitches.”
It was a terrifying incident that took place on Wednesday afternoon that had both teams paused and concerned.. Thankfully, Wendelstedt is going to be okay, based on the comments from Mendoza and Tichenor after the game.
