During his ESPN radio show on Wednesday, Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay firmly refuted allegations that he amply failed to criticize the New York team. Broadcasting from St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of the Yankees-Rays game, the sportscaster responded forcefully to a caller from New Jersey who claimed his commentary lacked critical analysis.
Michael Kay vehemently denied the accusation, asserting that he frequently criticizes the Yankees. He suggested the caller might be misinterpreting his commentary. But the words Michael Kay chose to respond drew widespread attention.
“You know what, jerkoff, you want me to hang up on you, don’t you?,” he yelled. “I’m not going to hang up on you, I’m going to let you spew your nonsense. All I do is sit here and criticize the Yankees every day. Are you hard of hearing?”
Michael Kay pushes back against Yankees apologist label
The caller specifically mentioned Michael Kay’s treatment of manager Aaron Boone, indicating that he had been too lenient given the team’s recent struggles. The Yankees had started July with a 1-6 record and were 5-16 since June 15, the worst record in baseball during that period.
In response, Michael Kay defended his approach, stating that he provides fans with insights into the team’s operations. The sportscaster emphasized that he often pointed out how Boone’s actions align with the Yankees’ front-office decisions.
This exchange highlighted the tension between broadcasters’ roles as team employees and their responsibility to provide objective commentary, especially during periods of poor team performance.
During his ESPN radio show, Michael Kay robustly defended his broadcasting approach, emphasizing his readiness to critique the Yankees. He challenged the caller to point out other broadcasters offering similar criticisms, expressing frustration at the suggestion that he is too lenient.
“I have said over and over that they have a chance of falling out of the postseason. What do you want me to do?” he said. “Tell me who is saying stuff like this.”
Michael Kay described the caller’s comments as misguided and further elaborated on his stance to co-host Peter Rosenberg. He highlighted the difficulty of balancing his dual roles as a talk show host and the Yankees’ broadcaster.
“I put myself in the crosshairs. I criticize this team to an extent that no broadcaster ever does,” Michael Kay added “And I’m in the unenviable position — or enviable — of having a talk show where I have to be honest, and I’m also the voice of the team. Don’t tell me I don’t criticize the team. This guy is clueless.”
In a separate appearance on “The Show” podcast with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The Post, Michael Kay discussed the Yankees’ recent poor performance. Acknowledging the team’s struggles, he noted they had lost seven of their last ten games. While the Yankees voice stopped short of using the term “panic,” he admitted there was legitimate cause for concern about the team’s form.
Throughout these discussions, Michael Kay underscored his commitment to honest commentary and his willingness to address the team’s issues, despite his official role with the organization.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
MICHAEL KAY HAS NO BALLS EITHER !!!.
HE SUPPORTS THE ASSHOLES THAT ARE CAUSING THE MAJOR PROBLEMS FOR THE YANKEE EMPIRE !!!.
JUST REMEMBER WHO MICHAEL KAY WORKS FOR !!!. IF MICHAEL KAY SPEAKS THE TRUTH ,
HELL BE AT THE UNEMPLOYMENT OFFICE BY MONDAY !!!. 😂
ENOUGH SAID !!!.
GOD. BLESS 🙏. AMERICA
Michael Kay can only so far in terms of how he criticizes the Yankees. You think Boone no longer doing a weekly segment on the show wasn’t the Yankees choice?
Dude, in real life people need to temper their words or actions if it will affect their jobs.
There are too many NY talking heads who love criticizing the Yankees because the reality is, they are Mets fans who have an outlet, not based on reality.
I heard that show. Kay likes to deflect the anger Yankee fans feel toward Cashman & Boone by acting like fans aren’t blaming the players at all. That’s BS! We are blaming them, but that doesn’t mean that Boone & Cashman are blameless. That’s disingenuous logic. They’re also at fault.
CASHMAN CHOSE THE PLAYERS THAT AREN’T PERFORMING, KAY, SO HOW CAN HE BE BLAMELESS?
Who traded Monty for Bader? Cashman! Who claimed that Monty wasn’t a playoff caliber pitcher (LOL)? Cashman! Who traded for Gallo? Cashman! Who traded for Donaldson? Cashman! Who said Donaldson was better than Gio Urshela (LOL)? Cashman! Who moronically claimed that the god-awful 2023 Yankees were “pretty f**king good”? Cashman!
But you NEVER blame Cashman for his NUMEROUS FAILURES. That’s what ticks off Yankee fans, Kay.
Kay took a fit on a caller (I think it was the same caller) for mispronouncing Carlos Rodón’s last name. That rebuke was uncalled for. Millions of people mispronounce people’s names; that doesn’t make them stupid, just mistaken in their pronunciation.
But KAY’S HYPOCRISY on this subject is manifest in what Kay said on his show on Thursday. Speaking about a fundraiser for cancer research, Kay said someone was a (quote) “CANCER ADVOCATE.”
NO, MICHAEL! YOU’RE A PROFESSIONAL ANNOUNCER & YOU MISSPOKE!
THERE’S NOT ONE “CANCER ADVOCATE” IN THE WORLD! A “cancer advocate” would be someone who thinks cancer is doing a wonderful job killing people.
And if you insist that everyone knew what you meant, well, guess what, Everyone Knew What That Caller Meant when he mispronounced Rodón’s last name; yet you denigrated him for mispronouncing Rodón’s name.
Btw, Michael, since you enjoyed ridiculing a caller for mispronouncing Rodón’s name, let me explain something to you in a similarly dismissive fashion: There are Advocates for Cancer Research & Advocates for a Cure for Cancer, but No One on Planet Earth is Advocating FOR Cancer! So, before you denigrate a listener for not knowing how to pronounce Rodón’s name, you might want to be more critical of your own faults as a public speaker.
I’m a professional writer with 40+ years’ experience, yet I make both written & verbal mistakes sometimes, like You & Everyone Else. But one thing I NEVER DO is purposely try to humiliate someone when they say something incorrectly, as you did with that caller. That was a Cheap Shot.