The “Fat Boy” saga has reached part three, which features the Yankees’ broadcast wondering … hey, isn’t that guy overweight, too?
To recap: Blue Jays manager John Schneider yelled “Shut up, fat boy” at the Yankees’ dugout — assistant hitting coach Brad Wilkerson thinks it was directed at him — during Tuesday’s 6-3 Yankees win, which saw tensions raise over a series of incidents including the positioning of third-base coaches, Toronto believing that the Yankees were stealing signs and Domingo German getting tossed for having an illegal substance on his hands.
So on Wednesday, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay took a crack at Schneider’s weight.
“Schneider shouting that across the field … I mean, Schneider is not exactly Kate Moss, either,” Kay said. “So why would you throw those words at somebody?”
Since Toronto’s broadcast played a part in the whole affair, pointing out that Aaron Judge was looking sideways prior to his home run on Monday and starting a controversy over whether the Yankees were stealing signs, it’s only fair that YES Network gets in a headline, too.
It turned out that Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson was tipping pitches, with Judge presumably acting on what the Yankees were picking up, as opposed to stealing signs illegally.
Judge said Monday his eyes were darting because he was upset about people in the Yankees’ dugout chirping the home plate umpire while he was batting.
That kickstarted controversy that has continued throughout the series, somehow ending with discussions of weight on television.
When the identity of “fat boy” was still a matter of speculation, Kay in fact defended the weight of Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
“In reading lips, [Scheider], said ‘Shut up, fat boy’ and Boone’s certainly not overweight,” Kay said Tuesday. “I don’t know who would fall under the heading of fat boy. … I don’t know who he is yelling that to, maybe he is talking to me.”
Wilkerson, the apparent target of the insult, seemed to be in good spirits over it.
“I think when you see stuff flash across The New York Post and things like that that are funny, you kind of bring it up,” he said Wednesday, in response to a Post article about the possible suspects. “You kind of laugh at it. We’re trying to focus on what we’re doing in our dugout and our clubhouse. It brought a little laughter.”
We’ll see whether Schneider has the same disposition.
